


SCP-5043

by sad_cat



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types, SCP Foundation
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Gore, Hurt/Comfort, I might rewrite this, Injury, M/M, POV Third Person, Very OOC, actually dont read this, hellaangsty, i might not, mindcontrol, monsterTom, there is some violence so please be careful, third person is so much easier to write sometimes lol, this is so old ew, tord works at the foundation and the boys are test subjects, we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 25,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21576565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sad_cat/pseuds/sad_cat
Summary: eddsworld/scp crossover. dont read this it ~sucks~
Relationships: EddMatt - Relationship, TomTord
Comments: 10
Kudos: 162





	1. Captured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hi!!!! this first chapter is suuuuper old, and i know its really bad, but it actually gets better!!!! i swear!!!!!!!  
> edit: yeah i rewrote it becuse it sucked.

The creature tore through the woods, bushes and small trees alike being flattened beneath its giant claws. Its tail swung wildly as it ran, sending broken branches flying in all directions. Behind it, a large van followed closely, swerving to try and avoid the flying debris.

Tom's senses were heightened, advanced by the monster's body he possessed. He could feel the pounding heartbeat of the driver, and the weight of the passenger. The steady patter of blood dribbling from a wound _he_ caused.

 _Fuck_ , Tom thought as he skidded to a complete halt. A large jut in rocks towered before him, making escape near impossible. Spying a low rock, he leapt up, scrabbling for any purchase on the boulders. Turning around, he saw the van come to a near screeching stop, the drivers door swinging open and slamming shut. A man in a red hoodie stepped out, the form of a rifle in his hands. Tom was instantly filled with panic and adrenaline, turning back to the smooth rocks. He placed his claw in a crevice, hoping it would be enough to help him get up. Shouts filled the small clearing, and he turned his head to see a group of men piecing together something large. Something that would hurt him. As he turned back to his escape, Tom realized that his claws were slipping. Trying his hardest to gain any traction, he felt his legs give out below him, sending his tumbling back down to the ground. He hit the forest floor hard, knocking the breath from his chest.

Just as he tried to right himself, a loud bang sounded through the area, and the monster looked up just in time to see the massive net coming towards him. The net wrapped around his ankles, sending him painfully back to the ground. Thrashing in the confines of the net, the headlights of the van dimmed slightly, obscured by the form of a man standing over him. Unknowingly, Tom was wearing himself out, just as the man had expected. Roaring loudly, he bit down on the seemingly nylon net, only for his jaws to get entangled in the strings.

 _This can't be it.._ Tom thought, staring directly up at the man. Staying still for a moment, the man stared back at his singular eye, and smirked. He brought the gun up to his shoulder and peered through the scope, aiming for Tom. The monster squeezed its eye shut and whimpered, turning its head away, begging for mercy. The man pulled the trigger, the dart flying out with a nearly unnoticeable sound. It stuck into the monsters flank, instantly releasing a strong tranquilizer. The monster roared in protest, loud enough that the red clad man had to back up and cover his ears. It thrashed even harder than before, legs swinging wildly. Slowly but surely, its movements came to a stop and the monster slept.

The man called out and the back doors of the van opened and a small group of armor clad men filed out, surrounding the still creature. They lifted the monster by the net, heaving towards the back of the van. The back doors slammed shut as the man started the van up again and drove off into the night.

Cargo secured.


	2. Migraine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this was written a little while ago, so the style of writing may vary towards the end,,,,  
> yeehaw

Tom blinked his eyes open, only to be greeted with harsh white light. His hand instinctively went up to block out the light, and he sat up. A rush of pain swarmed his head like angry bees and he grimaced at the pain. 

Where am I? he thought.

From what he could see, he was in a relatively large room with stone walls and floors. On the wall adjacent to where he was, he could see 2 large glass panels in the wall, side by side. In one corner close the glass, a large slab of meat was sitting in a puddle of what Tom could only assume to be blood.

He decided to sit up again, slowly. He saw figures and shadows moving behind the glass. He looked down at himself, not sure what to expect.

He quickly look away when his eyes met a bright orange jumpsuit that caused his head to pound. He stood up slowly, taking in more of his surroundings.

The whole place smelled like a hospital, but even cleaner. He almost gagged at the smell. He looked down again, almost expecting something different.

Nope.

Same bright and horrible jumpsuit. He felt it, rough and scratchy. Near his chest was something hard.

A nameplate.

Tom pulled the orange jumpsuit away from him to get a better look. SCP-5043, the plate said.

SCP? Tom thought.

Where had he heard that before? It seemed so familiar, yet so...not.

He recalled what had happened earlier. A forest, monster, rocks, no way out... that bastard who shot him.

Memories swam around in head like fish, so close then slipping away. Something about a net and a van, thundering boots all around him, suddenly feeling very tired. He decided to go to window to see if could ask someone some questions. Tom pressed his face up against the glass and wasn't surprised when he didn't see anything but shadows.

Something told him to get away from the window.

He needed togetawayfromTHEWINDOWNOWNOWNOW

Tom fell to the floor, scrambling to get away.

When the feeling subsided, Tom found himself lying on the floor, breathing hard.

What gave him that feeling?

Tom sat up and searched the room, looking for the thing that gave the sudden feeling of urgency. He stopped when he noticed a camera in the corner of the room, covered by protective glass. He got to his feet and stumbled over to the camera, staring intently at it. Who was watching him? Why were they watching him?

Because you are a murderer~ The voice hissed in his ear.

Bad sign.

"Go away. Now." Tom said quietly.

What? You think I'll leave because you told me so? The voice howled with laughter.

"Please."

Begging won't help you. It didn't help those poor children. They had a future. You took their future away.

He could feel the pang of hunger in his stomach.

How long had it been? He noticed the shadows behind the glass had stopped moving.

He needed to eat.

The monster needed to eat.

Tom glanced at the meat in the corner. How did they know? He held his head. The voice continued with taunts and insults.

You need to die. You are a murderer. You killed them for your own selfish needs. You should end your miserable existence to keep them safe. You don't deserve to live! Murderer. You're horrible person. Just die already.

The thoughts got louder and louder, engulfing Tom's head entirely. He felt the blood run down his forehead from digging his nails into his head. Tom's nails got sharper and turned black. The blackness grew over him, swallowing his body. His bones snapped and reformed into it. Purple fur sprouted on his neck and chest. Horns erupted from his temples. His two black eyes formed into one and turned purple. His nose elongated and razor sharp teeth sprouted in his mouth.

It was complete.

In Tom's place, a massive beast stood.

It let out a deafening roar and ran forwards into the glass.

Nothing.

The beast's horns scraped and screeched across the surface as it tried to get to the people behind the glass.

It gave up and sniffed the air. The smell of the meat instantly filled it's nostrils and it bolted to the corner. The monster ate ravenously, spraying chunks of meat and blood around it. The creature didn't go away until every last drop of blood and hunk of meat had been consumed.

Only then did it lay down and start to shrink back into Tom. Tom opened his eyes to see his own body and groaned.

Everything hurts.

Why couldn't he just be normal?

He lay there, motionless, until his head stopped spinning so violently. He then got up and trudged over to a corner, one that was out of sight from the glass.

Then he laid down, curled up, and shook.

hHY3yeyyyey b-...blease keep reeding it gets better i swear-


	3. Assignment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy turkey day babeesss

"Alright you two, you have been assigned SCP-5034, AKA The Purple Monster."

Matt and Edd looked at each other nervously. Purple Monster didn't sound very good. This was their second day at the Foundation and was already going horrible. Edd was scheduled for three assignments and Matt had two more after this one.

"Your job is to provoke the man in the chamber until he shows certain signs of-" Dr.L was cut of by a thundering sound. The three men turned their heads to witness a large beast ramming it's horns into the protective glass.

Matt and Edd both jumped back at the sight.

What if the glass broke? Well, they would all be screwed, that's for sure.

The beast behind the window let out a roar and paused. It lifted it's massive head for a few seconds, it's nostrils flaring. Then it whipped around and dove into a corner.

The trio watched in horrified silence as the beast ate something, spewing whatever it was all over the walls. Then they watched as it turned around to find any chunk it may have missed. When it found all the meat lumps, it turned to the walls, licking off all the gore.

Finally, when the cell looked clean and perfect, the beast slumped down.

Edd and Matt were both surprised when it turned into a man, laying spread out on the floor. Groans were heard coming from inside the cell. When they subsided, the man stood up, walked over to a corner and curled up in a ball. Dr. L turned to the pair of men in orange suits. "W-Well then. It looks like you two are dismissed until further notice." With wide eyes, the pair both glanced back at the man, who was shaking slightly in the corner and left the viewing room. The pair walked back to the Cafeteria, silent until Edd spoke up.

"Well then," he sighed "That was a quick assignment!" They both chuckled at the thought, a quick assignment.

They were never fast.

Always long and boring and painful.

When they reached the Cafeteria, Matt sat down while Edd got two colas from the vending machine. Edd sat back down and slid the can across to Matt. Edd cracked his can open and took a swig. He wiped his chin and sighed.

"Matt," Edd asked "Why didn't you tell me?"

Edd was referring to Matt's strange healing powers. All he had to do was touch an injured person and Pop! there they were, good as new.

Matt and Edd had been caught in a park.

A kid fell out of a tree and Matt really couldn't leave him. Some lady had seen the kid stand up after Matt healed him and climb right back into the tree. She had remembered a commercial she had seen with a number attached.

Seen something strange? Are you scared for your safety? The Foundation can help! Call this number and Foundation employees will be there in a jiff to help!

With shaky hands she dialed the number and instantaneously a helicopter swooped down and grabbed Matt and Edd, the flew off.

What really scared the lady then was how fast the helicopter arrived and left. Matt had vowed to never do anything nice for strangers again. Edd had vowed to always check up on Matt.

Now they were here. Stuck in this prison. For the rest of eternity. Something told Edd he would be seeing that man again soon.


	4. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is a hot mess lol

Tom blinked.

Where was he?

He looked around and saw only blackness.

Then purple. Then red.

Red.

So much red, mixing with the purple and blurring together.

The colors swirled and formed into it.

The monster.

Tom had never really seen the face of the beast he became.

Tom watched the creature's movements. He followed the path of vision of the monster that lead him to a pair of men.

One had a mop of brown hair laying on top of his head and the other had somewhat spiky hair, similar to Tom's, which was bright orange.

The beast started to bound over to them.

Tom knew what was going to happen.

He tried to call out, get the beast's attention, tried to save them. All that came out was a squeak. Tom tried yelling and shouting. More squeaks. The monster got closer to the men. They were squeezing each other, like they knew what was coming. Tom tried moving, tried to wave and get the monster's attention.

Nothing.

The monster finally got to the pair. It was over.

Tom was jerked awake by a kick in his back. Tom cursed and sat up, still facing the corner.

"H-hey!" said an unfamiliar voice, "I need to ask you some questions!"

Tom turned around with a frown.

"And you decide to start that by kicking me?" Tom replied. The guy seemed at a loss for words. "What? Cat got your tongue?" Tom raised an eyebrow at the man, smirking.

"N-now you listen here bud-" the guy started, then stopped. He paused, looking for the right words. He sighed, "Look man, I don't want to be here, and neither do you. Just answer a few of these questions and you go back to being sad or whatever you do in here." he said finally.

"Shoot," Tom said casually.

"So uh, the first question is, erm," he stuttered staring at the paper, "Where do you come from?"

Tom paused for a second, thinking.

"Manchester" He stated. The guy wrote it down with a pencil.

"Alright," the guy started, "Next question. Do you have any living relatives?"

"No. My mom was a bowling ball and my dad was a pineapple."

The guy laughed, "Alright, who are your real parents?"

Tom looked at him, dead serious. The guy took the hint and scribbled something down on his paper. "OK... um, here is the real question that pretty much everyone has been asking about you-"

"Everyone? What, do they announce arrivals or something?" Tom interrupted.

The guy paused, and stared at Tom. "Y-you do know how long you've been here, right?" Tom raised both his eyebrows now. "You've been here for three weeks."

Tom's non-existent eyes went wide. "W-well, I bet no one has noticed." He stammered, folding his arms.

The guy seemed surprised." Dude, I didn't even know you were real until I was assigned you! You were just a rumor among the rest of the D-Class personnel. The higher ups are constantly talking about you, getting into arguments even. It's kinda hard not to know about the guy who turns into a giant man eating monster and made a huge mess in front of Dr. L. You know, by obliterating a piece of meat. Then you ate all the mess and-" He stopped mid sentence. 

Most likely because Tom was an inch from his face and not looking very happy. The guy shut his yap instantly. A blaring noise was heard, a door opened up and a voice came on through a speaker.

Mr. Lewis, please exit the cell now.

The guy, looking promptly horrified, scrambled out of there as fast as possible.

Leaving Tom alone once more.


	5. Walk in the Halls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> guess what its technically december so crimsnas

Tom was bored.

His cell was devoid of anything that could entertain him. Of course, there was the meat in the corner, but there was no way in hell he was touching that. Sometimes he would walk up to the window and stares at the shapes swimming around in his vision. After the first outburst, the people must've realized that Tom doesn't only eat when he's a monster. So then they started open a slot in his cell door and shove a tray with some stuff that could be considered food, and a some off brand cola if he was lucky. Tom always wondered what was laying behind the solid metal door, who was out there? There had to be more people, it couldn't be only him. He'd even seen that one guy who asked him some questions.

Then the doctors came.

The tests weren't very annoying at first, just some weight and height measurements. Every time someone came in, Tom bombarded them with questions. Of course, none were answered; to his dismay. Then came blood tests. Doctor would come in, stick a needle in his arm and take some blood.

After a while, Tom just stood and rolled up his sleeve everytime the light turned on and the sound blared. He stopped asking questions, it was going nowhere and he was tired of being ignored. The doctors always seemed really frustrated whenever they came in.

Tom could also see their silhouettes from behind the glass. Someone always seemed to be arguing, though he couldn't hear it.

Sometimes, it would be one lone silhouette, one with spiked hair.

Tom saw that one often.

It was always sitting at a desk when it was alone, often tossing objects in frustration. Tom got so incredibly bored, that one day, he started talking.

Not to anyone in particular, but the shapes behind the glass. When he first started, all the people stopped moving, supposedly listening to him. He told them stories of his childhood, how his family didn't quite make sense, how he was bullied in school, pranks pulled with friends, and so on.

After the first few stories, the rest of the people stopped appearing to listen.

All but one.

The spiky haired silhouette.

It would often sit in front of the glass when the lights came on in the "morning" and listen to Tom whenever he talked. It was the closest thing to a friend Tom had in this place, or maybe not.

One day, the lights turned on and the door opened, the blaring sound accompanied it. Two men walked in, wearing the same outfit Tom was wearing. They had chains. And locks.

Tom decided it would be best to not resist, just to make it seem like he had given up. He pretty much went limp as the men locked a clasp around his neck that made it somewhat hard to breathe, but he didn't complain.

He was a monster after all.

They locked up his hands and he felt as if he was some sort of murderer. You are, the voice crooned. Tom pushed it back. He would not have an outburst now. He hoped he never would again.

But his hopes weren't high.

The pair took hold of his chains, and proceeded with him out the door. The hallway Tom was in was almost completely empty, save for a door at the end of the was nothing special about the halls. Occasionally they would pass someone in a lab coat or a person in an orange jumper.

After what felt like forever, Tom heard a sound. The collective sound of people. So he wasn't alone here, after all. Soon, they passed an opening in the wall that led to a room filled with long lunch tables and people.

Well, most were people.

When Tom had passed, they all went silent, all staring at him as he shuffled along. He gave them one quick glance, to show he was human, to show he wasn't violent. He saw jaws drop, a few audible gasps filled the air. After the opening was behind them, the room burst back into chatter.

Soon, they made it to a door in the wall. The two men opened the door and shoved him inside. The door slammed behind him, causing him to jump a little. Tom turned around to face whatever was in the room. He almost stumbled back at what he saw.

A table.

An empty chair.

One spiky haired man.


	6. Dr.L

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhhh am painting my compooter keys and one of them is wet therefore it is unusab|e

The day Tord had seen the newspaper, he knew it would be his obsession.

MASSIVE MONSTER KILLS 3!

The beast obviously had to be caught, to protect the people and all. But Tord could see the potential in a beast like that on the Red Army's side. He studied the blurry image on the front of the newspaper carefully. Tord couldn't quite see its anatomy from where it was, looming ominously over three teenagers. The picture was hard to see, as it was taken from a dark room, the only light coming from the streetlamps and the person who had taken the picture was afraid. From what he could see, it was a large black beast with some purple scattered about on its body. He would need to get a better look.

...

Tord had gathered some materials he thought would be necessary. Some netting, tranquilizers and a small team of 5 men. His body buzzed with excitement. He had studied the patterns of appearance in the newspapers. It only seemed to appear on Fridays and weekends. It was Friday, and Tord felt like the beast would appear today.

He had that gut feeling, you know?

He sat in the driver's seat of the Foundation's large truck. Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise and the beast emerged from the woods. It took one glance in Tord's direction and thundered the other way. Tord's foot slammed on the pedal and the van jerked forwards.

The beast was fast, something Tord had not expected considering it's size. He took mental notes of its size and what it looked like.

A large quadruped, with purple fur around its neck, protecting the throat. Two purple and black striped horns erupted form the sides of its head, coming to a razor sharp spike. Its tail was thick and strong, the end coming to a thin, whiplike point. The tip was covered in fur, thought it still revealed the end of the tail. Its back legs were smaller in comparison to its front legs. The front legs were obviously strong and could probably toss their van around like a pebble. Tord needed to see its face so he could get a report in ASAP. He pressed to gas pedal down as far as it would go, coming up to the side of the beast. All he needed was a few more feet and he could deploy the net.

So... close...

Suddenly the beast took a sharp left turn and left Tord flying straight into a tree.

I will not fail again, Tord thought to himself as the airbag deployed in his face.

He couldn't be more wrong.

...

Even though Tord was ranked pretty high in the Red Army and it was very powerful, that didn't mean he could get all his equipment for free. The higher ups (which were very few) started to get agitated with Tord's failures. He had crashed 2 trucks, lost 3 men and 1 other doctor to his "adventures" as the higher ups called them. Tord was given one more chance to capture the beast and prove himself worthy. Otherwise, he would be demoted to a lower class and someone else would be taking over his work and plans. Someone else would capture his prize.

He would not fail.

...

This was it. Tord's last chance at capturing the beast and proving himself worthy to be in his position. He created a better plan this time. Tord would wait with his assistant doctor, a truck full of 7 men and all the things he needed to capture the beast, hidden in the forest where the creature was usually spotted. Then he would chase it to a large cliff where it couldn't escape. Then he would capture it and everyone would love him. At least, that was his goal.

His assistant was Dr.M, a trustworthy friend he had since he became part of the Red Army. Dr.M was less an assistant, and more of a best friend to Tord. No one else really liked him. They all feared him. He'd graduated top of his class in training, Dr. M close behind him. Everyone expected Tord to become part of the army, to go fiercely into battle and kill hundreds with his skills. Then he proceeded to surprise everyone by following Dr. M into the Foundation. He may have been the best of his class, but he wanted to be with Dr. M. She was his partner in the training and he instantly became attached to her. He knew that she didn't want to fight, but be a part of the Foundation. So he followed her.

A loud sound broke him out of his recollection. A familiar crashing sound he knew well.

The beast came to a halt in front of the van, stopped in its tracks like a deer in headlights. Tord moved slowly towards the gas pedal, aiming to crash into the creature and stop it, then take it back to the Foundation. The beast noticed Tord's slight movements, and bolted. Tord was right behind it. He then found it increasingly difficult to swerve out of the way of the debris that came from the beast's tail. Tord pressed harder on the pedal. His plan was falling into action.

It all came crashing down when the thick tail whacked a dead branch towards the van. Time slowed down as the branch crashed through the window, as it came inches from Tord's face. The branch glided through the air, almost gracefully. Then, to its final destination. Dr. M. Time sped up again as the branch pierced Dr. M's shoulder, pinning her to the back of the van wall. She screeched in agony and Tord screamed in fear. He could do nothing. He couldn't stop now.

But oh,

He was going to murder that monster.

...

The next events passed quickly. The monster stopping in front of the cliff, stuck. Tord grabbed the net gun and pulled the trigger. Success. The monster was trapped. He went around back of the van, told one of the men about Dr. M, and grabbed a tranquilizer gun. As he raised the scope to his eye, he saw the beast. It was scrambling frantically, trying to free itself. Then it turned it one eye towards Tord. He almost felt sorry for it.

Almost.

Bang.

...


	7. Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> waa waa tord yells @ tom for like two minutes then gets distracted because it's the equivalent on me kicking this story around like an empty tin can

Tord sat at the desk and waited for the man to arrive.

Throughout the month or so that Tom had been there, he caught the attention of many other doctors, including Tord. Tom had been much more interesting than Tord had originally expected.

Most of the days, he would listen to Tom's multiple stories, other times Tom would sleep most of the day. It made sense, considering his physical state. Even though Tord had been planning Tom's diet specifically so that he could put on a bit more mass, nothing seemed to help. After a few more weeks, the meat had stopped being placed in Tom's cell, as he remained as a normal human. Or somewhat normal.

The man had been an enigma since Tord had laid eyes on him. Speaking of eyes. What was going on with Tom's? Were they holes, or were they just black? Overall, it was very strange.

The next odd thing about him was his past. Who was he? What was he like? He had seemed a bit open about his past, but never really his present. Tord himself was even tempted to go into Tom's cell and throw a few questions around, but he didn't, considering how unstable Tom was at the time.

The questioning didn't help either.

Supposedly, Tom's parents were a pineapple and a bowling ball. No names, just a bit of useless information.

Tord snapped out of his recollection of information when he heard footsteps and clanking noises coming from outside.

Tom had arrived.

...

Despite the multiple chains draped around Tom, Tord was still a bit wary of him after witnessing all he had done. Tom didn't seem to be very interested in Tord, in fact, he seemed to more interested with his own feet than Tord.

Tord broke the silence.

"Take a seat." He said, waving his hand towards the empty chair.

Tom looked up and cautiously stepped towards the table. The chains around his wrists clanked as he pulled the chair out and sat down. He eyed Tord suspiciously, unsure of what to do or say.

"I'm sure you have many questions yourself, but I would like it if you answered a few of mine first." Tord started. Tom made eye contact with him but didn't reply. Tord reached in his pocket to grab the voice recorder they usually used during those kind of sessions. He placed it on the table and hit the record button. Tom gave Tord what he thought was a menacing death glare, but Tord took no notice.

"SCP-5034, how are you today?" Tord asked. He had gone over the questions he would ask just about a million times, so it was impossible to forget.

"Don't call me that." Tom said with a scowl, bringing his wrists up to his chest, making somewhat loud clanking sounds.

That's for sure going to mess up the audio, Tord thought to himself.

"Please answer the question." Tord replied, showing an emotionless exterior. He couldn't show that he was...scared. Even though Tom was physically small, his overall demeanor radiated anger. And Tord didn't want to see that anger rise.

"I'm fine.'" Tom snapped back quickly.

"Ok then, moving on."

Tom shrugged slightly and rolled his eyes. Or at least that's what it looked like.

"What is your full name?"

"Thomas Thompson." Tom said, cringing inwardly at his own name.

"Next questi-" Tord began

"You know, I can't control it, if that's what you're wondering. When that thing comes out, I just have to sit and watch." Tom said, looking down.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh you know! That big purple thing that makes a mess all the time."

"Oh. That thing."

Silence hung heavy in the air.

"We can help you." Tord said smoothly.

Tom didn't look up.

"We can help you to control it, maybe even to the point where you don't have to be in that solitary cell."

Tom thought for a moment. Even though he did hate people, he hated being completely alone even more. Maybe there really was a chance to fix him...

No.

They couldn't fix him.

And he wasn't going to stick around for their attempts.

"What the hell is that?" Tom yelled, pointing to a corner of the room.

Tord whipped around to see.

"What? What is it?" Tord yelled.

As Tord turned around, Tom leapt from his chair and bolted to the door. The chains hanging around his wrists and neck clanked loudly, giving away his actions.

Tord whirled around at the sound.

But he was too late.

The heavy metal door was wide open, and clanking was heard down the hall, getting farther and farther away.

Tord reached into his pocket and yanked out his walkie.

"Containment breach in the eastern wing! Keter!"


	8. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh cannot breahste lol

Tom bolted down the hall.

Which was hard, considering the heavy chains locked around his neck and wrists.

He went from door to door, yanking and pushing on the handles, desperately trying to enter. Loud boots echoing in the distance.

Tom turned a corner and started trying more doors. The second door he pulled on opened with a creak. He dashed inside the pitch black room, unsure of what he would find.

Tom stumbled blindly over to a wall and dragged himself to a corner. He was shaking so hard that large chains attached to him started to clank together. Tom took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down but to no avail.

After a few minutes, he had calmed down to the point where the chains made no noise if he stayed still. But if he was going to escape, he couldn't stay still for very long.

Thinking quickly, he tugged on the bottom of his pant leg, pulling it out of his shoe. Tom ripped the coarse fabric up to his knee and tore it off. He then wrapped the thick chains in the thin fabric. Just as he finished, there was a shuffling noise from the opposite corner of the room.

Tom's heart skipped a beat.

Something was in there with him.

He held his breath for what seemed like minutes. When Tom absolutely had to breath, he let it out slowly through his nose.

Then he heard a different sound, not very far from where he was.

The sound of doors being opened, shouts, then slamming said doors.

Tom needed to hide.

Now.

He held his chains tight and stood up, still nervous of whatever was in the corner. Tom strained his eyes, seeing two large, boxy figures lying horizontally on the opposite side of the room. Underneath them seemed to be a space even darker than the actual room.

Good place to hide, Tom thought.

He shuffled over to the other side of the room, his chains making muffled clanking sounds.

When he got to the other side, he could see that the horizontal figures were actually beds. Not bothering to check if anyone was sleeping in them, Tom crouched down and crawled into the dark space.

The sounds of shouts and slamming doors became closer.

Closer, and closer, and closer.

Until Tom could hear the footsteps of whoever was checking the rooms.

The door of the room was pulled open and a light switch was flicked, filling the room with harsh, fluorescent light.

Whoever was sleeping in the bed above Tom made a slight sound of annoyance and rolled over.

Tom held his breath.

"Rise!" a somewhat familiar voice shouted.

Tom stared at the pair of shoes adorning the person who had barged into the room.

Groans were heard as two pairs of feet hit the ground, the beds squeaking as they stood up. Tom shuffled back slightly, trying to not make any noise.

"Have either of you seen someone come into this room?" the voice asked.

"I've seen you come into this room!" a new voice said from above.

A sigh was heard in newcomers direction, then they asked,

"Have you seen someone, other than me, come into this room?"

Another new voice chimed in,

"Nope! Me and Matt were asleep for a while."

"Are you sure?" the one with shoes asked.

"Actually," the one called Matt said, "I heard some weird clanking noises a few hours ago. Why do you ask?"

A pause filled the room, followed by the sound of a radio being turned on.

"He's in here." shoes said, "You two, come with me."

The one with shoes led the other two out of the room, as sounds of boots filled the hallways. The door closed behind them, locking with an audible click.

Tom was trapped.


	9. Relocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :/

Shit, Tom thought.

He was really screwed.

The boots were getting louder.

A minute passed by and Tom didn't move.

The boots got louder.

Tom crammed himself into the farthest corner of the bed, hoping that if he put his head down, they would only see his hair and move on.

The boots got louder.

Tom ducked his head down and scrunched back even further.

They were here.

Tom held his breath, in case that could give him away. That is, unless his pounding heartbeat didn't give him away first.

The door knob jiggled, then twisted quickly, the door swinging open with a creak. 4 men dressed in all black entered the room, though Tom couldn't see them. Quickly, one of the men dropped down to look under the beds.

Tom held as still as he could.

Were they going to see him?

They did.

The man who looked under the beds stood up and turned to one of his partners.

"Man, I wonder where this SCP is." He said, trying to suppress a giggle.

His partner turned to him and said, "Yeah, I bet they're really dangerous to be a Keter."

Tom heard them perfectly. He knew what they were doing, they were trying to anger him into coming out.

Or they were ridiculing him.

Either way, Tom was fuming. He knew they had seen him, so why wouldn't they just get it over with? Why did they have to do this?

Tom started to breathe a bit louder. His head started pounding.

No! Not now, please, not now! Tom thought.

A headache was a bad sign.

He tried his hardest to calm down, but nothing was working. The men were standing in front of the bed, waiting for him to come out.

He would show them.

He would show them that whatever Keter meant, he was it.

And more.

Purple smoke started to drift from his eyes sockets, filling up the space under the bed. It leaked out from nder the bed, starting to fill the room.

"Holy shit, that's a new one." He heard one of the men say.

"Hey Keter!" One shouted, laughing, "Stop using that fog machine and come on out!"

Tom would show them.

He would show them they made a mistake.

The purple smoke now covered the entirety of the floor, and was rising.

He felt the pounding get louder and louder, consuming him.

It began, the blackness growing, spreading over him. His hands turning into razor sharp claws. Fur sprouting from his neck. Horns, forcing their way out of his head, lifting the bed up ever so slightly. He grew, the bed raising with every passing second.

The men's joking and laughing became silent as the bed crashed to the floor, Tom's massive figure being revealed.

A second of silence.

A stare-down.

Tom's snout, inches away from one of the men's face. He made a mistake, reaching up to boop the monster on the nose.

The beast stayed still for a second.

Then, it reached forward and bit the man's head clean off, his body tumbled down to the floor. One of the other men screamed, causing the creature to lunge forward, biting and slashing at whatever was in it's reach.

Five minutes passed.

Every man that had entered the room was dead. The only thing of them that remained was blood, splattered across the walls and floor.

The beast wasn't done yet.

It stomped over to the door, poking it's large snout out the entryway.

Meat.

Fresh.

Hungry.

It retreated back into the room and ran forward, it's strong horns downward and crashed through the thick cement walls, making an awful loud sound.

It also told every living person nearby to do one thing.

Run.


	10. Location

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i just lost one of my closest friends of 6 years  
> shes not dead she just hates me now  
> but im good!  
> come get yalls juice

Dr. L led Edd and Matt out of their room.

That was a strange occurrence for a Tuesday.

Things like that normally happened on Mondays or Thursdays.

"Uhhh... Dr.L?" Matt asked, "Why did we leave?"

Dr.L stayed quiet for a moment before answering, "There was something in your room that was extremely dangerous."

"Dangerous?! It could've wrecked my beautiful face!" Matt cried.

Dr. L sighed and rolled his eyes. The narcissist could be very annoying at times.

"Do you know where the bathroom is? I want to make sure my face is okay!"

Dr.L sighed again, and pointed down a hallway adjacent to them.

"Go down there and to the left. There should be mirrors in that bathroom. If anyone asks, Dr.L sent you."

"Thanks!" Matt said happily and turned down the hallway.

Edd and Dr.L walked for a few minutes until they reached Dr.L's office. Dr.L pulled out a keycard and scanned it over a scanner, the door opening with a beep. Dr.L and Edd walked in and Dr.L sat down in his chair. Edd took a seat in one of the three chairs by the door. Dr.L started to type on his computer and move some papers around.

Edd looked around the bare room from his chair, inspecting everything he saw. Beige, boring walls, picture frame of two people smiling, one of them Dr.L, a slightly crooked painting of a sailboat, framed newspaper article. The works. Edd's eyes landed on Dr.L's desk. He scanned it quickly, and took notice of a small plaque on his desk.

Dr. Tord Larkson

Head Scientist in Biowarfare

Huh, Edd thought, I didn't know that Dr.L's name was Tord.

Edd thought for a few moments about Matt, and if he would know how to get to Dr.L's office from the bathroom.

His train of thought was interrupted by a loud crash, sounding if someone had taking a wrecking ball and smashed it though a cement wall.

That couldn't be good.

Dr.L shoved himself away from his desk and sprinted to the door, yanking it open violently.

"Dr.L, what was that?" Edd asked with a hint of worry.

"Nothing, nothing, it'll be fine." He said on his way out. Edd heard him muttering down the hall, " Can never expect those guys to take their damn job seriously..."

Edd sat still in his chair, wondering what Dr.L was talking about.

Then the nose appeared.

It was a large, black nose, poking its way through the door. Edd seemed to recognise the nose, but he couldn't quite place it.

Then he realized that there was a purple and black face staring at him.

Blood dripped down the side of the beast's chin as it slammed through the tiny doorway, the walls crumbling around it.

Edd scrambled off his chair and into the corner.

Bad idea..

The beast walked over to him, snorting and huffing through its nose, getting closer and sniffing Edd.

It came closer, and closer, until it was right in front of Edd's face.

Something unusual happened.

The beast seemed to be jerking back and forth, as if there was some sort of...internal struggle within it.

Edd sat there, horrified, for what seemed like minutes on end as the beast fought with something.

Then there was a noise, like a dart flying out of a gun.

And that's exactly what it was.

The beast turned around slowly, to see the threat.

But it was too late.

The massive beast slumped to the floor, a bright red feathery thing sticking out of its tail.

The singular eye of the beast blinked a few times, staring at Edd, as if silently begging him to not hurt it.

Behind the creature's body was a man.

A bright orange-haired man.

Matt.

A second of silence between the two men.

Edd stumbled over the creatures body towards Matt, enveloping him in a tight hug.

"Matt! I was so worried!"

The two men let go of eachother, and turned to look at the beast.

"Did that horrid creature hurt you?" Matt asked, nudging Edd.

"No," Edd replied, "It just kinda... stared at me. It looked like it was having a hard time deciding whether to eat me or not."

Matt laughed, "It must've sensed my immense beauty and decided that you were too good to eat!"

The two friends laughed at his bad joke.

But, they were too busy talking to one another to take notice to the beast, which had devolved into a spiky haired man.

"By the way, Matt," Edd asked, "Where'd you get that tranquilizer gun?"


	11. Pasta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhhhhhhhh i hated this then i liked it now i hate it again aLSo happy holdidays im sad  
> :D

Thwack

Bounce

Smak

Tom threw the ball against the wall to combat boredom. One week ago, he'd tried to escape The Foundation, ended up becoming the monster, killed several people, then got tranquilized. In the end, Dr.L talked to him and answered Tom's various questions. They made a few deals, shook hands and were done. Tom got a bouncy ball, and visits from Dr.L and the guys who's room he'd snuck into.

As it would turn out, Dr.L had forgotten to turn on the voice recorder during their deal, so the specifications were only known by Tom and Dr.L. The two guys, Edd and Matt, were pretty cool. For some odd reason, they liked Tom, and enjoyed their times together.

Tom couldn't understand why. He had killed hundreds of people before, but they seemed to understand that Tom didn't want to kill.

During his time trapped in the beast's body, he had done something he never thought he could.

He controlled the monster.

During the whole rampage, Tom lay still, only slightly bothered at the amount of lives he was taking, knowing he would deal with it later.

He'd done it before.

His breakthrough was when the beast made it to Dr.L's office, where Edd was.

The beast didn't recognize Edd, but Tom did.

Tom had remembered Edd from the many nightmares that plagued his sleep, where the monster would always hurt him or Matt in some way.

Tom didn't want his nightmares to become reality.

He did everything he could, tensed up, screamed, tried to keep the beast from advancing and tearing Edd to bits.

It worked.

It had worked.

...

The sound blared and a light flashed over the doorway.

Edd, Matt, and Dr.L walked into the room, Dr.L holding some papers.

"Hey guys!" Tom said, standing up.

"Hey Tom!" Edd replied.

"Tom! Think fast!" Matt shouted, throwing a pencil case straight at Tom's face.

"Too slow, Thomas!" Dr.L called as the pencil case smacked Tom straight in the face.

"Ack!" Tom shouted as he tumbled over.

The room went silent, except for Tom hitting the floor.

"Uh oh..." Edd whispered with a giggle.

Tom sat straight up and chucked his ball at Matt, hitting the ginger man square on his forehead.

"Ow!"

The throwing of items went back and forth for a few minutes, even Dr.L tossed a paper airplane at one point. Afterwards, the four men sat in the corner of Tom's cell and talked. Dr.L mainly just lay down on the floor and did some work, only minorly contributing to the conversation. He was there more because he felt lonely in his office. It was quiet all the time there, and the beige, bland walls were beginning to make him crazy. Being with these guys, even though one was a monster and the other two were... questionable, was still better than being utterly alone in his office.

Eventually, the conversation turned to food, and everyone realized how hungry they were.

"Dr.L?" Matt begged, "Could we pleeeeeease get some food from the cafeteria? I'm starving!"

"Fine, but only you and Edd can go. Tom isn't allowed out of his cell for a while." Dr.L replied lazily.

"Oh, ok!" Matt and Edd stood up and headed towards the door.

"Don't worry Tom! We'll get you something good!" Edd called from the doorway.

"You better!" Tom shouted with a grin.

That left Dr.L and Tom, alone in the room. The only sound heard was the scribbling of Dr.L's pen on his paper.

"Oh, Thomas, I forgot to mention this during our last visit. You will start some training next month to... control that thing." Tord said, not looking up from his paperwork.

"Hm?" Tom replied, the words not registering in his head.

"I said, you will begin training to control that monster." Tord repeated.

Tom took a moment, not really believing what he was hearing. They were going to what? Help him control the monster? Well, he had done it once a week ago and he could possibly do it again, but... how could he force himself into the monster?

When Tom started to laugh, holding his stomach and falling backward, Dr.L started to seriously reconsider his decision.

Just when Dr.L was about to get out, Tom stopped laughing and stood up. He walked over to Dr.L, who was also standing, about to leave.

"That won't happen." Tom hissed, inches from Dr.L's face. Dr.L brought his hand up between them and shoved Tom away.

"What makes you think that?" Dr.L seethed.

"There is no way to control that monster, trust me, I've tried." Tom said, the lies easily rolling off his tounge, "So what makes you think that someone yelling at me to Try harder! and Believe in Myself! will fix anything?"

"You can be fixed! We have extremely advanced technologies here at The Foundation-"

"Fixed? Fixed? I turn into a bloodthirsty monster and you say I can be fixed?" Tom interrupted, "And what are your 'advanced technologies' going to do? Tell the horrid beast to listen to me? As if!"

The shouting, arguing, and overall anger continued for minutes.

Tom even thought about inviting the blackening thoughts to take control and return, turning him into the monster, killing Dr.L, showing him that Tom couldn't be fixed.

He couldn't do that, but with the nonsense that Dr.L was spewing, it seemed like he might have to.

The arguing turned to silence when the sound blared from the speakers and the door slid open, revealing Edd and Matt balancing four trays full of pasta.

The four stayed still, Edd and Matt holding their trays up precariously. Dr.L and Tom, both with their hands still in the air from tossing them around angrily.

The silence was broken when a metal fork from one of the trays clattered to the floor, causing Matt and Edd to finally enter the room. They walked over to where the other two were standing and sat down, Dr.L and Tom soon following. Edd dished out the pasta to each one of them.

They ate in silence.

...


	12. Exercise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> merry christmas!!!!! happy holidays!!!!go feral!!!!! i woke up two hours ago!!!!! i got threehours of sleep!!!!!!! enjoy!!!!!!!!

It was the day.

The day Tom was not looking forward to.

When the light above the door flashed and the alarm sound blared, he knew what he needed to do.

Not resist at all.

It may seem like he had given up, his flame of rebellion had been diminished.

Almost.

This time, instead of two burly men with chains, Dr.L showed up in his white lab coat.

"Come, Thomas." Dr.L said with a tone of impatience.

Tom huffed angrily and complied. What took him by surprise was when Dr.L grabbed him firmly by the upper part of his arm, like a misbehaving child. Tom didn't quite like this, but he didn't complain. He deserved any pain that came to him.

The pair walked for a few minutes before arriving to their destination. A gym.

Dr.L pulled a keycard up from his pocket and brought it up to a scanner, allowing them inside. Only when the pair entered the gym did Dr.L let go of Tom.

"Do five laps." Dr.L ordered, producing a clipboard and pen from his coat.

Tom glared at Dr.L, but he didn't notice. Or he didn't care. Either way, once again Tom complied and did as he was told.

By the time he was finished, Tom was hunched over on his knees, huffing and puffing.

"You think I can get some... I don't know, exercise clothes? Maybe some water?" Tom asked.

"All humanoid SCPs must remain within jumpers unless told otherwise." Dr.L replied, scribbling something down on the clipboard.

Great. He's like that, Tom thought with a frown.

"Alright. Now drop and do 20 pushups."

Tom rolled his non-existent eyes and dropped. By the time he finished those he felt like he was gonna die.

This is what happens when I sit around for a month, Tom thought.

Once he regained his breath, there was an awkward silence between them while Dr.L wrote down more notes.

"What do you even do with those notes anyway?" Tom asked, pointing to Dr.L's clipboard.

"I need them to file a report."

"I'm guessing you don't like giving straight answers?" Tom said with a small smirk.

Dr.L was silent for a few seconds before replying with, "Site staff are not allowed to converse with SCPs."

"You are so lying! You talk to me all the time!" Tom replied.

"Yes, and when I do so, I break protocol. It doesn't happen as often, but nobody really cares about that rule unless the SCP can-" suddenly, Dr.L stopped talking.

"What?" Tom asked, quite confused.

"Breaking protocol." Dr.L answered simply.

Tom sighed heavily. "Why can't you just tell me something? No one's here you know."

Dr.L leaned in towards Tom, a little too close for Tom's comfort.

"What are you doing?" Tom asked, backing up slightly.

"The walls have ears." Dr.L hissed in Tom's ear.

Dr.L started scribbling more down onto his clipboard upon seeing Tom's eyes turning white in concern and fear.

"Time to start the thing we're here for." Dr.L said, as if nothing happened.

"And how do you expect me to do it? I've told you before and I'll tell you again. I can't control that monster." Tom replied, stuffing down a growl that threatened to escape his throat.

"You did it in my office, with uh.. what's his name? Oh right, Edd." Dr.L said, lifting his head and looking at Tom.

Tom said nothing.

"How do you know that I did that and the monster was deciding to not eat him?" Tom replied, crossing his arms.

"Edd described what happened in great detail. He said it looked like an internal battle, whatever that's supposed to mean." Dr.L said, looking back down at his notes.

"I don't know why you think you can help me." Tom complained.

"Shut up and try." Dr.L said sternly.

He sighed.

"Fine."

He let the dam go, allowing the black thoughts to crash into his head, splitting him open. He felt the familiar transformation sweeping his body, turning him into it.

He had to control it.

He needed to control it.

The beast's gaze spun until it landed on Dr.L.

Dr.L

Instinctively, the large black claws reached forward and came down across the man in white's face.

NO! Tom thought.

He tensed just as the monster was about to lunge for Dr.L's throat.

The monster's view stayed still.

Then, a sharp pain rocketed through Tom's back. He whipped around to see what caused the pain. A small woman, shaking, holding a tranquilizer gun.  
The beast instantly collapsed, unable to move.

"TORD!" the woman cried, rushing forward towards the Dr.L.

Tord? Tom thought while his mind spun.

His vision was fading.

Fading.

Fading.

Fading.

Empty.


	13. 682

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sxdtcfyvgbhnj sorry been dead time flies when ur sleeping  
> i will prolly upload a butt-ton more chapters real fast soon

Tord sat at a desk, working on documents.

Suddenly, he was in his office. It was empty. No desk, no chairs, no paintings of lonesome boats hung tilted on the wall.

Nothing.

He couldn't move.

A large black mass suddenly filled his field of view.

The monster.

He watched as a montage-like scene played in front of him, with the monster swiping left and right, killing dozens.

Suddenly, the monster stood still.

Tord could move now. He shook his hands to get rid of the feeling of numbness, and was utterly shocked when the beast sat down and shook its two front paws in unison with Tord.

Tord paused.

He raised his right arm over his head. The beast copied him. He kicked out his left foot. The beast stood and did the same.

Tord woke up with a gasp, shooting straight up.

His vision was dark.

I can't see. I can't fucking see. Oh god ohno ohnogodnonono, he thought frantically, reaching for his eyes.

Tord sighed heavily with relief when he felt thick bandages covering his eyes.

Why...? Tord thought, before the memories of what happened flooded his head. Training. Tom. Monster. Tom was right. He really couldn't control it. Tord stiffened slightly when he remembered how the monsters claws raked his face effortlessly.

If only he could control that thing. It would be perfect on the battlefield.

Control.

Control.

Control.

His dream.

Tord had dreamed about controlling the beast. Maybe...maybe he could do the same in real life.

An idea popped into his head.

...

Tom woke up with a pounding in his head.

He groaned and sat up, only to be greeted with cold darkness. He put a hand to his face to make sure that nothing covered his eyes when he felt a dull pain on his head. A bruise.

Great. Where did this even come from?! Tom thought angrily.

But there were other things to worry about. Like why the lights were off.

Maybe I just woke up in the middle of the 'night', Tom thought.

Until he heard a growl.

"What are you?" a voice asked, sounding full of rage.

Tom stayed silent.

"Why are you in my cell? I could really just tear you to shreds now if I wanted. But I won't. Because you seem to have some use to me."

Tom stayed silent.

"I know they throw in D-Class in here every once in a while to pester me, but I can sense something about you. Something different."

"What does that mean?" Tom asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"They only toss in D-Class when the lights are on. As you may or may not be able to see, the lights are off." The voice growled, making a sort of slithering sound in the dark.

"Huh."

Silence.

"Who are you?" Tom asked, his voice only quavering slightly. Whoever was with him gave a sinister laugh, accompanied by what sounded like a tail slapping the ground.

"More like what am I!" the beast chortled, "Those horrid flesh sacks call me SCP-682, or Hard To Kill Reptile, or bastard who won't cooperate. Sometimes they call me Keter, whatever that nonsense means. I just want to rip the heads off of those annoying meat bags."

"So if you can kill me now, why haven't you done so yet?" Tom asked, genuinely confused as to why this thing hadn't ended his life yet.

"Something about you... I can tell you aren't a human, you're a monster. I want to get out of this stupid place, and you could help me." 682 continued.

"You think you can get out?"

"Yes, I have breached my containment a multitude of times. Could you turn into that monster now? You are extremely annoying."

"Uhm.. okay then.." Tom tried letting the horrid and dark thoughts consume him, but nothing happened.

He tried to force the voice to speak, but it stayed silent.

Shit, Tom thought silently, I'm so damn useless I can't even force the stupid monster to come out, great.

"You're taking too long. I'm gonna eat you now."

The beats ran forward abruptly, rapidly approaching Tom. Its nose slammed into him, pinning him against a wall.

Tom screamed in pain, batting at the 682's nose weakly. 682 flicked its nose up, launching Tom into the air. Tom slammed into the ceiling of the cell with a groan, hoping his hair would lodge in the ceiling and keep him out of harm's way.

It didn't.

Tom dropped down, the beast leaping up and smacking him out of the air. Tom smashed into the cold, unforgiving floor, continuing to yell and cry out in pain.

Suddenly, Tom felt something happen to him.

Something...familiar.

Tom looked through the singular eye of the monster, staring down at 682.

"Ah, now that your in that form, the useful one, now I won't try and kill yo-" 682 was cut off by Tom.

"You think I'll forgive you?!" he yelled, but all that came out was an ear-shattering roar.

He stood on his hind two legs, making himself taller, raised his powerful claws and brought them down on 682's head, slamming it into the floor with a satisfying crack. He picked up 682 in his jaws and swung his head violently, bits and pieces flying off 682. Tom opened his jaws and let 682 go flying into one of the cell walls.

682 stayed down, large hunks and limbs missing from its body. Tom roared once again in triumph, walking over to 682 and sitting on the unmoving body, to ensure it wouldn't get up once more.

Time ticked by and 682 didn't move, and neither did Tom. Eventually, Tom grew tired from the immense movement, and started to drift off.

Then he remembered he was still in monster form.

Then he remembered that he controlled the monster.

Completely.

This was a problem.

Notes: 5043 may be able to eliminate 682

...


	14. Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i miiighta fucked up the chapter order on this one, so if somethin seems fuckny plz tell meeeee

What?

Tord's first thought after witnessing the series of events that just occured.

Previously, he had thought, What if I put 5043 into the same cell as 682?

Multiple doctors and scientists told him it was a horrible idea, but he explained the maybe, when faced with danger, 5043 could control his monster, and...be fixed?

Tord knew it was a long shot , but maybe, just maybe, it might work.

And it did.

Tord knew that the monster that 5043 supposedly, "had no control over", was extremely violent, and would normally devolve after eating something.

His face was pretty much just pressed up against the fortified glass of the viewing room, in total awe of the current events.

But this was new. 5043 beat the crap out of 682, and now, he didn't try to eat it. 5043 just sat there, on top of 682, still in monster form.

He was so enveloped in thought that he didn't hear the door creak open.

"Tord?"

The man in question jumped out of his seat when he heard his name. Tord whirled around, only to be met with Dr.M's worried face.

"Oh, Eva, it's just you," he sighed with relief.

"Hey Tord. You've been in here for a while. How's your eye?" Dr.M asked, taking a seat next to Tord.

"It's fine, I've got two after all. I'm just thinking," Tord shifts so he faces Dr.M, "5043 said he couldn't control the monster at all. But what I just saw changes that statement."

Dr.M giggled, "You sound like a Buzzfeed article!"

Tord sighed and rolled his still functioning eye, "Yeah yeah, laugh all you want. But I'm serious. This really does change everything. If we can somehow figure out how to control this monster, it could help the army greatly on the battlefield."

Tord turned to let Dr.M see the screen. The video showed a grainy image of 5043 transforming into the monster and attacking 682.

"Woah." Dr.M breathed, leaning back in her chair.

"Yeah. Pretty cool." Tord replied putting his elbows back onto the desk.

A moment of silence.

"Do you hear an echo?" Dr.M asked, raising her eyebrows.

"What?"

Tord leaned forward, only to hear the soft click of the speaker button turn off.

The pair turned toward the viewing window, making direct eye contact with 5043.

He had heard every word.

They watched in horrified silence as 5043 backed into the corner of the cell, and took a running start, and leapt straight at the window.

The one which Tord and Dr.M were sitting behind.

5043 slammed into the fortified glass with all his strength, causing a small spider-web of cracks to appear. Dr.M screamed in fear as 5043 tumbled to the ground, then got back up. 5043 repeated the process of backing into the corner, but before he could take the running start, Tord shoved papers off the desk and slammed the neutralize button.

Instantly, tranquilizers were released into the room, causing 5043 to stumble forwards, and collapse.


	15. Chess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> adgdskfkdgalhfagfdagsjgdgfakjgdhsjdsfkhg

Tom sat in silence.

Angry, festering silence.

He glanced at the small camera in the corner of the room.

Still there. Still on. Still watching him.

A quiet beep knocked him out his state of quiet hatred, turning his attention to the door.

Dr.L enters the room, holding some sort of box beneath one arm, and a tape recorder in the other. He walks quietly to the metal table and pulls out the chair, the one closer to the door. When he places the box on the table, Tom realizes it's chess.

"Hell yeah," he whispered under his breath, sitting up straight.

"What was that, 5043?" Dr.L asked in a formal tone.

"Nothing," Tom grumbled.

"If you say so." Dr.L replied, fiddling with the tape recorder.

When he finally fixed the recorder, Dr.L set it down on the table and pressed the record button. "They really need to get some new recorders.." he mumbled as he started to set up the chess. Tom watched in silence as Dr.L picked out the white plastic pieces and placed them towards himself, leaving Tom the black pieces.

He didn't like that.

Tom set up his pieces in the correct order, waiting for Dr.L to do the same. Dr.L took the first move, moving his pawn forward two paces. Tom took his turn, moving a pawn one pace forward.

"So, you really cannot control the monster?" Dr.L asked, moving the same pawn again.

"Nope, not at all." Tom lied, moving a different pawn forwards.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. 100% sure I cannot control the monster in any way, shape or form. The thing really is a horrible creature. " Tom answered almost ecstatically, with a small nervous laugh at the end.

Dr.L stayed silent for a moment while he moved his rook forwards. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. Tom observed as he typed in a password, the screen lighting up as he finished. Tom used this time to quickly move his bishop and take out one of Dr.L's pawns.

"If you are so sure that you're not in control why don't we watch this. Here, I have a video of the monster from three months ago." Dr.L stated calmly, turning the screen so it faced Tom. The screen showed a surveillance video of a hallway with a few doctors crowded around a water cooler. The camera suddenly began shaking, and the giant beast streaked through, attacking the doctors, blood spraying the camera. The beast finished its meal, and moved on down the hallway. The video cut out, and Dr.L turned the screen back to him. "Now here's a video of the monster from two days ago."

He turned the screen back to Tom, showing him a dark room. The camera loaded for a second, and fixed to night vision, which showed a very green monster sitting atop a very green 682. Tom's heart sank down into his feet when he heard the audio play Dr.L's voice, saying something about control and a battlefield. The screen glitched a bit as the monster's ears perked up, its broad head turning towards the sound, a growl erupting from deep in its throat. The monster kept its eyes trained upon the glass, getting up off of 682, and backing into the corner. The monster ran and leapt up as high as its legs would carry it, slamming head first into the glass, the sound of cracking glass filling the room. The beast slid down the wall and backed up to ram into the glass again. Before it could get far, a hissing sound rang in the speakers, and the monster stumbled forwards and tumbled to the ground, unmoving.

"Do you see any differences?" Dr.L asked, retracting the phone and turning it off.

Tom sat in shocked silence.

They were smart.

"I do. See how in the first video, the monster is brutal and ruthless, violent and murderous? Killing without thought, not even seeming to register the sounds of people screaming for help?" Dr.L said, moving his knight so it took out the bishop. "And how, in the second video, the monster seems more cognitive, seeming to actually understand what I- the man was saying? Seeming to get angry over his words?"

"Y-yeah. It did s-seem more um..smart. Yeah." Tom all but whispered, not really paying attention to the game, moving one of his pawns mindlessly.

"Tom."

The other man saying his real name caught Tom off guard, his hand jerking slightly knocking over a few pieces.

"You're scared," Dr.L said, making eye contact with Tom, "I understand. This place is terrifying, it's real bad sometimes. I know, I work here. I know you're starting to figure out how to control the monster. You don't need to worry, though. If you can control it, you can help in tremendous ways. I can't make promises to let you go, it's just too big of a risk. However, if you decide to work for us, you could get major upgrades in living situations. Access to internet, TV, your friends, whenever you want. In fact, I think it's time you should get some kind of bed, instead of sleeping on the floor. I'll do that after our game."

Dr.L moved his pawn forwards, making it one space closer to the other side of the board.

Tom's side.

"Uh-um, yeah. That would sound good." Tom said with a small smile.

Tom won the game.


	16. Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter barely even ties into the rest of the story but i wanted to write smtn nice dont sue me-

Clack

Click Click

Clack

"I win again!" Matt exclaimed happily.

"Too bad for me, but I know I'll beat you next time!" Edd challenged.

Their game was interrupted by the door making a metallic screech noise as it opened, revealing Dr.L.

"Hi!" Matt shouted, waving at Dr.L.

"Hello Matt." Dr.L replied calmly.

"Is Tom here? Did you bring him?" Matt asked, peeking around Dr.L.

"Yea, where is he?" Edd continued.

"Who?" Dr.L asked, not really paying attention to the boys, more checking the condition of their room.

"Uhhh...Tom? You know, the guy with the spiky hair and weird eyes?" Edd pressed.

"Oh, yes SCP-5043. Yes he is fine, he is in his cell at the moment."

"Can we see him again? Can we bring Connect4?" Matt pleaded, looking at Dr.L with begging eyes.

"Uh, well, maybe later. He's uh, pretty tired right now." Dr.L said, being caught off guard at how much the boys wanted to see Tom.

"Woohoo!" Matt cheered, leaning over and hugging Edd.

"Ok, everything seems to be in place here. And don't lose any of those pieces, that's one of our last full sets." Dr.L warned, walking towards the door and leaving.

A moment of silence sat in the room.

"You know what Matt?" Edd asked, a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"What?"

"I say that I don't quite want to wait for Dr.L to say when we can see Tom. I say we go see him now!" Edd replied triumphantly, standing up.

"Yeah!" Matt said, standing as well, "Now what?"

"Uh.. I didn't get that far in my plan."

"How about we just open the door?" Matt asked, shrugging.

"But they always leave it locke-" Edd was cut off by the sound of the door opening. For a split second, he was filled with fear, but then realized that it was Matt that had opened the door.

"What were you saying Edd?" Matt asked, going into the hallway.

"Nothing Matt!" Edd chirped, following Matt into the hall.

The boys looked down both ends of the hall, scanning for any sort of signs indicating their, or Tom's, location.

"Which way do we go?" Matt questioned worriedly.

"Um.. this way!" Edd said with confidence, turning left.

Left, right, right, left, through a door, stopping to look at a sign, another left, one more right and...

There it was.

The start of the empty hallway that Tom's cell was placed in.

"We made it!" Matt exclaimed, jumping up slightly.

"Uh, yeah! I totally knew the way!"

They pair walked to the viewing room door, which was surprisingly unlocked. It was empty, yet another surprise.

They saw Tom sitting on his bed, reading a book.

"Hey Tom!" Matt yelled, waving his hand.

No response.

"Maybe he can't hear us.." Edd said, trailing off.

"Hey Edd?"

"Yeah Matt?"

"Do you hear something, like the sound of someone walking towards this room?"

Edd realized that someone was coming for the viewing room, and grabbed Matt to hide. The pair dove behind a desk, and crouched down low, in hopes of being passed over.

The door opened, and whoever entered the room went straight into the cell, the alarm blaring for a few seconds.

Tom looked up, almost elated to see whoever it was. Edd had never seen Tom so happy.

Edd was still confused as to who could possibly make Tom so excited, until the pair sat down on the concrete floor.

Dr.L.

It was Dr.L.

He had some sort black box in his hand, and Edd saw it was chess. He watched as Dr.L methodically started to place his white plastic pieces in their corresponding spots, and Tom do the same. The pair started the game, and to the boys' surprise, they could hear the others' conversation.

"So, how far have you gotten in your book?" Dr.L inquired.

"Only about halfway through, I never really liked reading in school."

Edd's eavesdropping was interrupted by Matt.

"That's why we can't play with Tom, Dr.L is hogging all the time!"

"Shhhh!" Edd shushed, bringing a finger up to his mouth to indicate silence.

The pair watched as the others took turns, chatting quietly.

"Wait, Tom could've taken that move the get Dr.L's king! Then he would win!" Matt yelled-whispered.

"Maybe he's doing it on purpose..or he's really bad at chess."

The boys stayed in their hiding spot for a few more minutes, no one from the game winning or losing.

It was pretty boring, actually.

"Well, I guess it's time to go, cuz we found out what's happening here." Edd whispered, turning to Matt.

"Guess so,"

The pair snuck out their hiding spot quietly, even though the Dr.L and Tom couldn't hear them. They crept through the door, closing as quietly as they could.

"Uh, Edd?"

"Yeah?"

"How do we get back?"

"Shit."


	17. Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yall i am deceased

Tord pulled the mask down, leaning into his work. The soldering tool sparked and buzzed close to the mask, sealing the wires into a green motherboard. He leaned over to a leather notebook, recording his every action, in case this prototype fails.

Again.

Tord picked up another wire, checking it to make sure he had the right one. It was kind of hard to see through the mask, so he just guessed it was the right one and attached it to his creation. He sautered one last wire on and slid the whole thing into the empty goggles. He closed the small hatch with a mini-screwdriver, securing the motherboard in temporarily. He flicked the small switch on the other side of the machine, the screen in front of him lighting up. Green text displayed in blocky letters, LOADING, with three small dots following it.

It was done.

Three minutes later, the goggles were securely strapped onto a D-Class personnel.

"Now, D-10679, just relax and don't touch your face." Tord said, leaving the testing room and entering his lab. He sat down at the computer and opened up the program for controlling the goggles. He dragged a file for forward movement into the control panel and clicked play. He jumped up and peered out the window to see if it would work.

The D-class's neck jerked for a second, then with stiffness, their legs began to move. One, two, three, four steps.

It worked!

Tord turned and jumped up, shaking with excitement.

A loud boom knocked him off his pedestal of joy. He turned back to the glass and saw the D-Class laying on the ground, his head completely missing. Tord sighed dejectedly, going into the room and retrieving what was left of the goggles. A hunk of blown up metal. More debris than anything. He could see the exact spot where the thing malfunctioned, right in the spot where he was unsure about the wires.

"Maybe I should check the wiring next time.." Tord muttered to himself.

He sat back down at his desk, and pulled another green board out his drawer. He only had two left. And he needed to make them count.

This needed to work.

And he was going to make sure of it.

...

Tom rolled over in the scratchy sheets of his bed, trying to go back to sleep. When he realized he wasn't going back to sleep, he kicked the blankets off, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. As he rubbed his eyes, he felt something strange bubbling his chest, something he couldn't quite place his finger on. What could it be? Rage? Fear?

Joy.

It was joy.

He was happy.

For the first time in a few years, he woke up feeling happy.

Why was he happy? The answer flew into his mind like a gentle dove landing on his finger.

Dr.L

Before he had been taken to the Foundation, he was miserable. Stuck at a dead-end job that paid poorly, no real friends, slight alcohol problem.. When he wasn't working, he was either sleeping, drinking or laying around his one bedroom apartment contemplating death. He never really ate full meals, only small snacks to keep himself alive.

Now, he was getting full meals everyday, socializing, and generally getting better.

And even feeling...certain emotions again. Emotions he hadn't felt in a long time.

Tom had the goal to escape the Foundation, but now..he wasn't sure he wanted to leave.

He wasn't sure about anything.

Except for one little thing.

...


	18. Unscheduled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> there is some pretty big violence in this one!!!!! if u dont wanna read, basically Eva (Dr,M) beats the shit out of tom becuz yandere

Finally, maybe Tord could make some friends.

He walked up to the small group in the breakroom, summoning his courage.

"Hey guys!" He said, waving slightly.

The group looked at him like he had three heads, and turned back to their conversation, something about a game. Tord didn't really watch any kind of sports, so he just nodded along with the conversation, laughing when necessary.

After a bit, he decided he wasn't wanted there, and began to walk away.

Tord felt a rocket of hope when he heard one of them say his name.

"Hey, Tord was it? Why don't you go check on all the D-Class in hallway 8D? I don't feel like doing it."

"Uh, sorry I can't. I other work to do, Roskam." Tord said, continuing to walk away from the conversation.

"So what? You can spend time with the only thing that tolerates you? That freak?"

"You are so unprofessional." Tord muttered quietly.

"Say the guy who's dating an SCP." Roskam whispered to the group. A few laughs echoed through Tord's head.

He clenched his fists as he went to check on the D-Class.

They were never kind to him. Sometimes it seemed like Eva and Tom were his only friends.

They would pay.

~Timeskip~

After a full hour of checking the D-Class, Tord was exhausted.

He pulled up his keycard and let himself into his small lab, collapsing into his squeaky rolling-chair. He hunched over his desk, forcing his eyes open, taking a sip of coffee, staring at the page in front of him.

The letters swirled and mixed into blurry shapes. Tord squinted, inspecting the page with rigor. He took another sip of coffee.

It was cold.

Maybe..just a second of...closed eyes..just a second..

The desk made a small thump as Tord slouched down into a much needed sleep, splaying out onto the desk, knocking a few papers down.

Barely a minute passed before the door swung open, a figure sliding into the small space.

It was Dr. M, also known as Dr. Mayberry, or to Tord, Eva. She stood behind Tord, watching him sleep. Inspecting the heavy bags under his eyes. Stroking the ruffled hair.

So soft.

Eva saw a crumpled blanket in the corner. She grabbed it hastily, like it would disappear if she didn't snatch it quick enough. She gently draped it around Tord's shoulders, tucking it under his arms so it would stay. She positioned it so it would be warm around his face, making sure he could still breathe. She didn't want to suffocate him after all.

As she stood watching him breathe, her eyes drifted to his desk, the cluttered mess it was. She leaned over his sleeping form to peer at the papers. Graphs and designs, numbers and words scrawled in his messy handwriting.

One thing stuck out to her.

The repetition of a word. Or, a name per se.

Tom

Eva was suddenly filled with burning rage.

Tord, HER Tord, was burning himself out over this damn freak.

She would show him that nobody hurt her Tord.

Carefully and quietly, she exited Tord's lab and began to make her way to Tom's room. She began to fantasize about the things she would do to him. Suffocate him with his undeserved pillows. Hurt him, bad, maybe even kill him if the opportunity arose.

The viewing room door opened, the rubber guard at the bottom sweeping across the floor. Through the door to the cell.

Man, this guy was a heavy sleeper.

There he was. The thing that was ruining her life. Sleeping so peacefully.

"You don't know what you did to him.." Eva whispered, caressing the side of Tom's face.

Tom's eyes flickered open, making direct eye-contact with Eva. She reeled her fist back in one fluid motion and punched Tom directly in the face. A small snap was heard, along with Tom's pained screams.

He popped up, hand flying to his nose. Definitely broken. Eva reeled her fist back again, landing another punch on the side of Tom's head. Eva grabbed Tom's arm and forcefully dragged him out of the bed and to a corner, leaving a small trail of blood. Tom curled up into a ball, trying to protect himself. Eva started to kick him, leaning against the wall so she could get more strength.

A blow the the stomach, side, chest, face.

She leaned over and stomped on his ankle, another snap filling the room. Tom screamed as he clutched his ankle.

Finally, after she was done, Eva turned and started to walk away. Tom painstakingly got up, limping slowly to Eva.

He didn't even notice that his hand was no longer a hand as thick black claws raked Eva's back. The momentum from scratching her knocked Tom backward, falling onto his back and hitting his head on the cement floor. She screamed and lurched forward, falling on her chest.

Blood began to pool around both of them as Eva struggled to get to the door. She made it, and pulled the alarm for a containment breach. Her face contorted into a twisted smile as she heard the heavy boots beginning to thunder in the distance. She stared at Tom, who had sat up, hugging his knees, normally black eyes turned white, ankle twisted in a direction it shouldn't be. Blood dripped from his face and body.

Perfect.


	19. Deceit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so basically this story is coming to a close!!!! im jut gonna rapid fire with the new chapters, so to anyone who is following this story, im sorry  
> :)))))

Tord groaned as he lifted his head from the hard desk. He blindly reached for his coffee and took a sip. Ice cold. He groaned again and swallowed it begrudgingly. As he came to his senses, he could hear the containment breach alarm blaring in the distance.

Hope I don't have to deal with that today.

He sat up and stared at the papers in front of him. He then realized he forgot to check on Tom.

Shit.

He bolted out of his chair and down the hall making his way towards Tom's room.

He had so many plans.

As he reaches the room, Tord notices that the viewing room door is slightly ajar. He doesn't think much of it, and pushes it the rest of the way open. In a instant, he hears loud shouts and scuffling noises, accompanied by hoarse screaming.

That can't be good.

"Tord! Thank god you're here!" says a voice from beside him. Tord turns to see Eva, looking almost frantic.

"Eva? What are you doing here?" Tord questions.

"I-it was Tom." Eva said cryptically.

"What? What happened? Is he hurt?"

"See for yourself." She replied, gesturing to the window.

He saw an awful sight. Tom, dangling off the ground, being lifted with a pole by the task force. All five men have their guns trained on his head. Tord slams the button for the door, sprinting into the cell.

"Put him down! He isn't a threat!" he shouted.

"Sir, please back off. This is a Keter SCP and has attacked another doctor."

"Yeah, and why do you even care?"

Tord didn't reply, and backed into the viewing room. Tom was let down, and looked at Tord, betrayal in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." Tord mouthed through the glass.

As he watched Tom get handcuffed, he heard a thumping noise behind him. He turned to inspect it, and saw Eva. Lying on the ground. Covered in blood.

"Eva!" Tord cried, scooping her up and dashing to the infirmary, completely forgetting about Tom.

Timeskip

Tord sat at her bedside, the harsh beeping of the monitor filling in the background. He stared at her, not really staring, but lost in his own thoughts. He really liked her, as a friend. She was caring and sweet. Witty and smart. The perfect friend.

Friends. What are friends? Friends are people who like you, who think like you, who care about you.

Tom was his friend. But the two didn't mix. Whenever Eva was near Tom, she got hurt. Easy solution, keep Eva away from Tom. But there was one thing, a minor inconvenience. Eva went near Tord, and Tord went near Tom. Which would mean Eva and Tom near each other.

If that's the case, I should just...stay away from Tom. At least until Eva gets better. Tord thought.

"Tord?"

"Eva?" Tord said, snapping out of his thoughts.

"Where am I?" she asked, glancing around the room.

"You're at the infirmary. You just...collapsed."

"It was th-that thing! It attacked me!"

"No, that can't be right. Tom is just very... skittish. It takes time to know him. You probably scared him."

"No, I swear! I s-saw that you hadn't checked on him today and t-thought I would do it for you. I went in there a-and it attacked me! I really think you shouldn't be near that thing at all." Eva explained.

"Are you sure he just attacked you? Unprovoked? Did you talk to him at all?"

"No, I didn't talk to it, it just attacked me." she repeated.

"Well, I'll review the tapes and I'll just make sur-"

"Uh- no! I went in there because the cameras weren't working! So there is no footage. Don't you still believe me?"

"Um..."

"Just please be careful! I think it's crazy."

"Nah, he's not crazy, he was probably just scared."

*No, Tom isn't crazy. I know him. He wouldn't attack someone like that completely unprovoked.* Tord thought as he left and made his way towards his lab.

*Right?*


	20. Solitary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> take it  
> also if there's any typos or grammar mistakes PLEASE tell me  
> also also the reason things are in ** is because someone is thinking them, its italic in any other platform but idk how to make it italic here lol

Tom was alone.

He'd been alone for 2 weeks.

He'd been untreated for 2 weeks.

The only thing that could be considered 'human contact' was when someone shoved food through the door. He knew he shouldn't have let himself get attached to them.

Now they're gone. It wasn't his fault.

It couldn't be.

'It is so your fault', said a familiar voice.

"Oh, you're back from you vacation I see." Tom whispered as he curled in on himself tighter in the corner.

'Oh shut up, I'm not your friend.'

"It sure seems like you are. You are here when I'm alone, and I can talk to you."

'I fucking hate you. They do too. You haven't seen the other two in a while, they probably forgot about you. God you're worthless.'

"Tell me something I don't know."

'Huh. You are so painfully pathetic that you don't even give a shit about them. That is awful. You are disgusting. They didn't fix you because you don't deserve it. You're in pain right now and that is how it should be. It's a start on what you should do, since you did it to those kids.'

"...yeah."

The voice disappeared.

The cold from the floor seeped into his bones, his bed having mysteriously disappeared one night. He was stuck in the corner, his ankle sending waves of pain every time he moved even slightly. His breathing was raspy and slow, his nose being so messed up he had to breathe through his mouth. Everything hurt. Why did it hurt so much?

Tom jumped as the small metal door at the bottom of the full-sized door screeched open, a tray clattering against the floor. Some bread, jerky, and an achingly small cup of water.

Same as last time.

It was all the way across the room, too. Was it really worth it? All the pain just for some food? He ate yesterday, and he knew the human body could go weeks without food.

But he wasn't human.

Not even close.

But he was so thirsty. And tired too. Maybe..maybe just a minute of closed eyes. Just a real slow blink. Then he'd go get the food.

Tom let the wave of tiredness crash over him, the pain dulling out just enough for him to drift to sleep.

...

It had been two weeks, and Eva was almost fully healed. Tord had been by her side for everything, the surgery, the rehabilitation, all of it. All his attention was on her, she was his best friend after all. He only ate when she did, mostly just forgetting to. Slept when she did, all that. Now she was pretty much fine.

After Eva had berated him for spending all his time with her, she sent Tord down to his lab to do some work so he wouldn't get fired. Tord hadn't been in there since...the incident. A thin layer of dust covered everything in the room, including the work on his desk.

*What was I even working on before?* Tord thought as he blew most of the dust off his things. As he shuffled the papers around, he caught a glimpse of something that reflected the light. The goggles.

Oh.

Tord then realized he hadn't thought about Tom at all. Maybe that was a good thing.

Maybe not.

His plan still needed to work though. Could he do it on 682? No, 682 was here since before Tord even knew about the Foundation with little to no progress.

It had to be him.

He was sure someone had checked on Tom since he left. Right? It couldn't hurt just to make sure.

Tord took one last look at the prototype on his desk and shut the door, taking the familiar path down to his room. It was a relatively short walk, which was easy on Tord, taking into account he didn't sleep much back then.

*Back then? What the hell am I talking about? It's been like, two weeks, there is no 'back then'.* Tord scolded himself mentally. A short while later he reached the room and opened the door with a creak.

*That thing needs some damn WD-40.*

He entered the dark room. No one was there, which was sort of odd, considering that there was till much to be discovered about...him. He flicked the light-switch and the small area flooded with light. Tord noticed that the light in the cell was off, which irked him some. The light was never off. He found the light switch to the cell near the window, and flicked that as well, illuminating the cell. He scanned the cell for any movement, any reaction to the lights.

No movement.

Tord's eyes quickly landed on a dark blob in the corner. With another second of staring, he finally recognized it as Tom. Was he dead? Tord sniffed the air. Something pungent tinged the clean, almost hospital like smell the Foundation possessed. Was this a prank? Some sick joke pulled by Tom to get back at him? If it was, Tord was going to be very mad. He held his hand tentatively over the small button that opened the cell door, debating whether he should go in or not. Tom could actually be crazy, developing madness in the short time between Tord leaving, and Eva entering.

*No, that's...that's completely irrational. But I don't even need to go in there. I can see him from here. He's fine, probably just tired.*

Tord scanned the room once more, noticing that there was no bed.

*It probably got dirty from...Eva's blood. And they took it to clean it. I'm certain I just happened to walk in while it was away.* Tord mentally reassured himself of the facts he made up. He faked a small smile, even though no one else was looking. He took another glance at Tom, how he was huddled up in the corner like he was going to freeze to death if he didn't. He was still. Tord couldn't see the way Tom's chest heaved as he struggled to breathe, couldn't see the small cuts and bruises lining his face and body.

Tord strode confidently out of the room, turning off the viewing room light and shutting the door.

He failed to notice the small puddles and droplets of blood surrounding Tom as he left.


	21. Emotions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aghagghghaaghagaghgh eat dirt

The light nearly blinded Tom as he blinked his eyes open. When did the cell light turn on?

He pushed himself up in the corner, having slowly slid down while he slept.

Tom was so tired. He was tired of existing. His life was pointless to begin with. Now he was nothing. Where was Tord? Weren't they friends? Didn't friends check on friends?

 _How long has it even been?_ Tom thought, having lost track of time a while ago. His stomach rumbled loudly, begging for food. He glanced across the room, towards the untouched tray of food.

He wasn't hungry.

He didn't _want_ to be hungry. And yet, the painful pang of hunger remained where it was.

Where _was_ Tord? Tom missed his friends. He missed everyone. Why hadn't Tord come back yet? Had something happened? Did...did he do something? Was that person really a woman?

Was it Tord?

 _No, it couldn't be Tord. Tord wouldn't do something like that unprovoked. Unless...it was payback for what I did to his face. I didn't even do that! He knows that...right?_ The thoughts swirled in Tom's head like water going down a drain, mesmerizing, then gone.

The sadness turned to anger, betrayal, fear, a cocktail of emotions that didn't make sense. Growing, evolving, becoming darker and darker, until _it_ was there.

The monster roared.

Angry claws raked the thick cement walls, leaving score marks in their wake. Pent up emotions came spilling out in a torrent of rage. Very quickly, the floor was covered in sharp and crumbling bits of cement, stabbing into the bottom of the monster's - Tom's - feet. He was done.

The emotions had been spilt, and now they coated the walls and floor. Chest heaving with exerted energy, Tom made his way towards the door, his mind intent on one thing.

Tord.

He sized up the door; it was a little small for the size of the monster, but he could fit if he squeezed. Backing up, backing up , backing up, and speed forward fast then

**slam**

**crack**

**squeeeeek**

**crash**

It was that easy? Did no one hear that? That seemed impossible.

Was it? Was he free? Timidly, he placed one foot in front of another, squeezing through the people sized doorway and into the viewing room. The tiled floor was cold under his feet, and the dribble of dark purple blood leaking from the bottom of his feet made a footprint on the floor. He sniffed gingerly through the various papers on the small table adjacent to the window. Something caught his attention, a whiff of something familiar.

_Tord._

Tord must've been here recently, otherwise the scent would've been staler than the bread on the tray in the decimated room behind him. The scent lingered through the air, and out the door that led to the hallway. Tom squeezed through the doorway once more, and began to follow the scent.

Tord smelled like cigar smoke and sparks, like new leather and old books. A twinge of sadness was weaved through the other scents, a sense of something being missing, a hole.

The distance between the cell and Tord's office was lessening by the second, and Tom was making headway. Then a different scent snagged his thoughts. Two scents, really. A scent of cola and kindness, a scent of perfume and joy. One of confusion, one of boredom and fear.

Edd and Matt.

Tom's friends.

He could see them later, now he had to find Tord.

Soon enough, he happened upon a wooden door, with a small engraved nametag on the front.

**Dr. Tord Larkson**

**Head of Biowarfare**

The scent was so strong here, it nearly overpowered Tom's nose. Without even thinking about it, his large black claw reached up and turned the door handle, leaving a small smear of blood on it. The door swung open noiselessly, revealing a small figure hunched over a desk. The door hit the wall, making a small thunk noise as the doorstopper bumped into the bottom of the door. The figure popped up and spun around in his seat, eyes widening as they landed on Tom's large silhouette in the doorway.

"Tom?" the small voice questioned.

Slowly, Tom moved forwards, coming to a stop with his head over Tord's shoulder. His rear-end thumped on the ground as he sat down and nuzzled his large head into Tord's shoulder.

Tord hesitantly wrapped his arms around Tom's fluffy neck, slowly sinking in as Tom whimpered over his shoulder. Something warm and slightly wet began to cascade down his back, and it took Tord a little pondering to realize what it was.

Tears.

He was _crying._

He then noticed the fur under his hands wasn't soft like normal, but matted and dry. Small clumps were beginning to form under his hands, which had begun to sweat. He pulled his hand away from the embrace to see what was causing Tom's fur to mat, and saw his hand come back a reddish-brown color.

_Blood._

_Why is there old blood on his fur?!_ Tord thought frantically. He tried to pull away from the beast, only to have Tom whine loudly and follow Tord. He froze up, not knowing what to do. He stayed frozen for what seemed to be hours, until the quiet sobs coming from Tom subsided, leaving a _very_ heavy monster snoring softly over Tord's shoulder. Shortly, the monster devolved and left a battered and bruised Tom leaning heavily on Tord.


	22. Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i am done w/ chapter 26 and ill be starting 27!!!!!!!!! when 27 is mostly done im gonne release 26 and so on :)))))))))

Tord leaned against the door, arms crossed, looking at the scene in front of him. Tom, snoring softly, leaning back in Tord's chair, wrapped in a blanket. And of course, severely injured. As Tord was peeling Tom off himself, he noticed Tom's ankle was twisted in the very wrong direction. Broken.

What had he gotten himself into? Why did he get this job? To follow Eva of course. But now, he wasn't even sure what he wanted to do it anymore. He had gotten himself too deep.

Yeah, tomorrow I'm just..not gonna show up. And the day after, and the day after that one. I won't come back. I'll find a new job. I'll leave this whole thing behind. But what if...

Tord slid down the door, his head gripped in his hands. Why was this such a hard decision?

What about Tom? I can't just leave him here. But what if...

Tord's moral dilemma was broken by the sound of shouting in the hallway. He turned around and opened the door, starting down the hallway. Just as he turned the corner, he slammed into someone else.

Dr. Richard-fucking-Roskam.

"Watch it, fucker!" Roskam shouted. A flicker of recognition flitted through his face as he realized who he was yelling at. "You," he growled as his face darkened. "Where is it?"

"Whe-where is what?" Tord asked in reply.

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about! 5043! Your weird fuckin boyfriend." Roskam said, each word dripping with poison.

"Look man, I have no idea what your talking about. I haven't seen To-5043 in a month."

"Yeah, right. Go find it then!" Roskam shouted at Tord. Roskam stood there, and watched him run around the corner. He waited until the patter of shoes was so far he couldn't hear it, then continued on to where he was heading in the first place.

Tord's office.

He got to the door and was about to open it, when he noticed some sort of dried substance on the handle. He scratched at it, it came off on his fingernail. He would run some tests later, now he had something to do. He opened the door, and there it was. You would think Tord would try to hide it or something, turn the swivel chair around, or lock his door.

Oh wait, he can't do that anymore. Not after he lost his nice office to me and came to this closet. Roskam thought with a grin. What sat, sleeping, in front of him was enough to get Tord...terminated. He shuffled through the papers on the floor, before a small thought hit him.

What if this thing wasn't asleep? What if it was awake and getting ready to attack him? Roskam scanned its body for any signs of tenseness, any signs that it wasn't asleep. It was so weirdly human. Soon, his eyes landed on its feet, on of its ankles twisted at an awkward angle. Unless this thing has flexible bones, it wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Still, he stepped less heavily as he made his way around the back of the chair. Positioning his hands on the back rest, he prepared himself for what he was going to do. It was simple, just push the chair forward and knock that thing off, maybe kill it. Then he would be rewarded and probably get to watch Tord die.

Perfect.

He took a deep breath, and lurched forward. The thing flew off the chair, landing with a thump on the ground. It head smacked painfully into the solid floor, causing it to wake up. It groaned in pain and blinked open tired, black eyes. Roskam bolted over its collapsed body and through the door.

"I FOUND IT! I FOUND IT!" he screamed into the hallways. Quickly, a rush of people in lab coats hurried into the hall crowded around him and 5043.

Roskam reached down, where 5043 was covering its ears from the noise, roughly grabbing 5043's arm, and hoisted it up for all to see. A cheer went through the crowd, causing 5043 to hold its remaining hand even closer to its ear. Roskam took no care in making sure 5043 was fine, only in getting his reward. Heavy steps were taken back to 5043's cell, which resulted in Roskam remembering the the door had been busted down, then even more dragging towards an empty D-Class cell.

The crowd had eventually dissipated, leaving only a few stragglers to follow the cell door slammed shut, they all laughed and congratulated Roskam. He was in the spotlight.

Now to take care of the other problem.

...

Tord.

...

He was still wandering around, not knowing that Tom had been found. What a surprise it must've been, to come around a corner and get jumped by a group of men who are twice your size. And a surprise it was indeed. Suddenly, Tord was on the ground, being kicked and shouted at. One of them picked him up by the collar of his shirt, and someone else punched him. Dropped again, he felt hot blood begin to pour out of his nose. Someone grabbed him by one of his signature hair horns, and pulled.

It hurt.

Some undicernable time later, tow of them picked him up by the shoulders and half dragged him somewhere. He was losing consciousness when he was slammed into a metal chair and a glaring light was shone in his face. It wasn't even 30 seconds before he was cuffed to the metal table.

"Why were you hiding a Keter class SCP in your office?" a cold voice shouted at him, too loud.

Tord's blurry vision cleared up enough to realize it was the Site Director.

If the sight director was here, it meant someone fucked up big time.

He just didn't realize it was him.

"Wha..?" Tord mumbled.

"You were keeping SCP-5043 in your office, supposedly hiding it for unknown reasons. How do you plead?"

"I..I didn't put-put that there. He caaame to me." he slurred, blood dribbling from his chin.

"Yeah, yeah. Now here's what's gonna happen. First, we can't get rid of you, because without you, pretty sure we wouldn't be able to control 5043, and we need it. Second, were gonna make sure you stay focused on the task at hand."

"M'kay." Tord replied, before letting his head fall down to touch his chest. He felt something being wrapped around his head, he assumed some sort of bandage, or maybe a towel. Just as Tord was about to drift off, his head snapped up as what felt like lighting bolting through his head.

Pounding

Pounding

Pounding into his skull.

Something was being taken. What was being taken? They were taking something. What were they taking? He tried to form a cohesive thought, but nothing full could come together. Fragments, pieces, nothing.

It stopped.

He felt like his hair was smoking, like his brain had been singed.

His head slowly lifted, until he was face to face with the Site Director.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Nothing."

...

Tom was cold. And very tired. It seemed to be that way a lot now. A pounding headache woke him up, throbbing through his skull.

It hurt.

It wasn't a headache that woke him up. The headache was caused by a loud, fuzzy noise. The noise became clearer and clearer until he could tell it was a person, yelling in his face. Instinctively, his hand swiped up to get rid of the noise. It was weak and feeble, and only caused the noises to get louder, and for someone to hit him back, much harder. He felt something hot run down the side of his face. Once again, he was yanked up out of a corner and dragged around. He hissed quietly as his ankle brushed the ground, and used what little strength he had left to lift it up.

Lots of white in these hallways. They should paint em', Tom's muddled head said to him. Yeah, with not too many colors, but y'know, a little pop here or there would be nice.

As he was regaining consciousness, whoever was dragging him around went through some white double-doors, and he was lain on a bed. A bed. It was so nice, he could sleep. He even tried to. Until a familiar face appeared in front of him.

That woman.

The one who did what she did to him.

Another instinct kicked in.

Get away.

He screamed, suddenly extremely alert and awake, and began to scramble to get away. He fell off the bed and onto the hard floor. In front of him was a nice dark space he could hide in. Nice and dark and cozy, where he could hide from her. He crawled to that place. He was still screaming. Other people were screaming.

Was he awake? Was he even alive anymore? Was this whole thing a bad dream, and any second he would wake up in his apartment and go to work? He reflected back to a time in that awful place, when he woke up happy for once. How he never wanted to leave. That was gone. His emotions were opposite.

He wanted out.

All screaming had ceased, and now a kind looking face was peering down at him.

"Hey there, why don't you come on out, and we can fix you up? How does that sound?" She asked politely. Tom thought this sounded very nice, and he wanted his ankle to stop hurting. But that woman was up there, and she would just hurt him again.

"No thank you." Tom tried to say, but all that came out were tears.

This was the second time he'd cried here. The first wasn't that long ago. He'd held his resolution for a long time, and now all that he'd carefully held together came apart. And so did he.

Gentle arms grabbed his wrists, and he began to freak out again. She made gentle hushing sounds, trying to calm him down before he lost more energy to his anxiety. His heart was racing, and with what little sanity he had left, expected his eyes to be white. Within the blink of his terrified eyes, he was on the bed. Something sharp pricked his hand and he yelped from the sudden pain.

"It's okay, this is just some medicine that will make you feel very tired, don't worry." the kind voice reassured him. Tom felt weight on his eyelids, and glanced frantically around the room, searching for that woman. When he didn't see her, he felt safe, safer than he had felt in a long time.


	23. Objective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ehhhh this is really short but im writing it and ur not soooooo  
> (jk i love yall sm)

"Hey 40456?"

"Yeah?"

"You ever wonder who was in this cell before us?"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"I mean, do you ever wonder about how many people were here? Did they die? I just wonder if they knew when they left the cell for the last time..."

"I mean, I don't really care."

Silence.

Suddenly, shouting. From outside. The door next to their cell was slammed open, and they heard an audible thump as someone was tossed inside. Harsh laughter echoed in the hallways as the patter of feet became more and more distant.

...

Tom was sat up in a white bed, his hands clasped together in a nervous fist. His mouth was open slightly, the machine next to him whirring loudly as it pumped air into his lungs through a mask. His nose was sealed in some sort of bandage or something, and a tube ran down his throat. He could feel it back there, and he felt sick. His right foot was wrapped up in a thick cast, and he could feel dull throbbing from that area. The IV was still stabbed into his hand, held down by tape.

*How long was I asleep?* Tom thought to himself, all panic having seemingly disappeared. Apparently, long enough for whoever worked here to...fix him. At least his health.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a door to his left squeaked as it opened. A woman rolled a cart through the door, stacked with different sized trays of food. She went through the racks, supposedly looking for a certain one. She found it rather quickly and tugged it out from the precarious pile and placed it in front of him. And just as quickly as she appeared, she left, leaving Tom to himself once more. He watched her leave, almost envious of her. He didn't know her in the slightest, but she probably didn't have to deal with anything near the shit Tom went through.

He cautiously glanced down at the tray of food on his lap. A small bowl of soup was placed in the middle, and alongside it was a few crackers and a spoon. There was only one problem. The soup was tomato, but in Tom's drugged mind, it appeared to be blood.

The soup went cold.

...

Tord felt trapped, like he was in a giant robot, with objectives filing across screens, telling him what he had to do. He couldn't control the robot, he watched through what a screen as its moved its legs all on its own, while he sat there and tried to fix it. Except he couldn't. He sat and he watched as the robotic legs moved, one leg in front of the other. He was the robot, and he had a mission. The only clear thing in his head.

Finish the visor.

Get to SCP-5043.

Attach the visor.

Bring it to the Site Director.

Simple as that.

Tord arrived at his office, quickly, having been released almost immediately after what happened in the interrogation room. He watched silently as his hands reached for yet another sheet of thin metal, and he began to form it into the correct shape. The wiring, soldering, and everything else was soon to follow. All the pieces were in place.

And this time, he was sure it would work.


	24. Pretend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uhuguhuguhugh huguh gu huguguh gu guhug hug uh ug pizzaauhguughughughughghughghhghgughghuuhgughghg

His face was void of emotion as he worked. The last pieces were in place, and he could finally call his creation finished. Tord knew that it was finished, and he had no need to test it yet again. The emotionless face fell and morphed into one of content, he could finally call his project complete.

Next objective: Bring device to 5043 and secure device, thereby gaining full control of 5043.

Easy.

Just put on a yet another emotional facade, like he had done so many times in the past. This time though, it was only for gain. He had nothing to lose. He gently placed the device in his large coat pocket, and began taking robotic steps towards the infirmary where 5043 was being held. Reports had stated the he was docile for the time being, and any direct medication had stopped being administered for several days. The only reasoning for keeping it in the infirmary was because its cell was still... out of order

Stuffing the device into his comically over-sized coat pocket, Tord began making his way towards the infirmary.

As he rounded a corner, a man exited an office across the hall. Tord didn't think much of it, that is until the man jumped in front of him, halting him in his path.

"Excuse m-"

Tord was cut of by the man giving him a hard shove, making him stumble back. "Sir, I am carrying extremely important technology so I don't think you shoul-"

"Ha! Who in their right mind would trust you with 'important technology', much less anything! Especially with what after you did." the man ridiculed him.

"And who do you think you are?" Tord asked harshly.

"Are you playing dumb? Did that monster seriously knock your brains around that much? Or are you too scared to confront me? I'm Richard-fucking-Roskam, and you damn well know it."

A sudden surge of emotion ran deeply through Tord, something about this man or what he said, had clearly struck an unknown nerve.

"I do not know who you are, but if you interfere with this project I will send 5043 after you and make sure it removes your organs and decorates its cell with them. Clear?" Tord snarled into the mans face, then smiled sweetly and walked away. Roskam watched him leave with wide eyes, and -until he was sure the other man was far gone- stayed still.

...

Tord arrived at the infirmary shortly, having sped up after the encounter with the man. Supposedly this man knew him, and some little thing inside him was telling him that he should fear the man, that the man was well known, that he is bad news. He stuffed down the small inkling of fear as he arrived to the infirmary, the clean smell of the building shifting into one of anti-bacterial soaps and what-not. Tord had memorized the room number that 5043 was housed in, and made a beeline for it. The door opened without a creak, and startled the man who was laying in the white bed. Tord knew 5043's file back and front like he knew what color his lab jacket was, but it was still a slight shock to see its eyes. And yet, something familiar lay deep within those black pits of his-its. Something that felt nostalgic to Tord, like a forgotten memory that had been stuffed into the crevices of his own mind.

Supposedly, he knew and was close friends with this SCP, and this is what the SCP knew.

So that's is how he had to act.

...

Tom had been mulling over his current options. He could somehow gain control of the monster right here and now, escape, then...what would he do? Go back to work and pretend nothing happened? He'd only been absent for...probably around five to six months. To Tom, the days seemed to blur endlessly into one another. What other options did he have? He could submit to the Foundation, but that would mean bringing he monster back into play, which was his last choice. A silent motion to his right dragged him painfully back to reality, only for his fears to melt at the sight of a familiar spiked silhouette entering the door.

"Tord!" he choked out, his voice cracked and dry from disuse.

"Hello..Thomas." Tord replied coolly, looking a bit startled from being called upon.

"I've missed you so much! Where have you been while I've been cooped up here! It sucks without you." Tom began to gush. Tord sat down uncomfortably on the side of the bed, looking as if he didn't know what to make of Tom.

"Here, put this on. It'll help you fully control the monster." Tord said out of the blue, handing Tom an object from his pocket.

Tom turned it over in his hands, inspecting it carefully. It was a visor of sorts, with a black screen and loose strap. He looked up at Tord suspiciously, debating whether or not he should put it on.

"What if you're lying to me?" Tom said warily, "What if this thing like, I don't know, mind controls me!"

"Come on now 50-Thomas, when have I lied to you?"

Tom glanced at Tord's reassuring face, almost begging him to put it on. He gingerly placed the visor over his eyes and attached the strap.

"Here, I'll turn it on for you," Tord said, reaching over and hitting a small button on the side of the visor.

Instantly, bolts of pain stabbed through Tom's head. He cried out in shock, lashing out blindly towards Tord. Fatigue swept through his body like a wave, putting weights on his eyelids and turning his limbs into cement as he collapsed into Tord's arms.

"What the hell did you do?!" Tom shouted, but it only came out as a coarse whisper. He reached up, weakly clawing at the visor that was latched onto his face.

"Don't worry, 5043. Just go to sleep and it will be over soon." Tord murmured, petting Tom's head.

"No..." Tom whispered, clutching desperately at Tord's coat.

"It'll all be over soon."

And with those final words, Tom's world went dark.


	25. Show Off: AKA Tord Fucks Shit Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hHHhHHh yall are up to date now!!!! the next chapter will come iut when i finish 27, so i can have time to work on the rest. (side not: i HATED with a burning passion writing 'mindcontrol mode', but i had no other normal sounding option)   
> YYYYyayayYAYayAYYAyAyAYAyaayYAYA

Tord threw papers around his desk, set on finding a certain box. He finally spotted the matte sheen of the case. It was a chess set, one he had brought from his home, so none of the pieces were missing. The board itself was made of dark and light wood, and the pieces themselves were made of black and white marble. He opened the door and began to make his way towards Tom's cell. It was a much shorter walk to his cell now, since he had been moved out his previous office upon his request. His new office was much smaller than his old one, but he worked around it.

The seconds flew by as he entered Tom's cell, and began one of their countless games of chess.

Now, in the midst of playing (and winning) chess, Tom had been feeling...on edge. He felt nervous and fluttery, but like...in a good way? Tom had no idea why he was so happy, but he would gladly take this nervous feeling over anything else.

Tom was nearly about to take down Tord's king, which wouldn't matter much because Tord had requested that they play for pieces, since Tord wasn't necessarily the best at chess. Tom analyzed the board, planning his next course of action. Then, while Tom was thinking, Tord was silently moving one of his pieces to take out Tom's queen.

"The queen is dead!" Tord shouted in mock surprise.

"You can't do that! Violation of chess rule #368! Using the opponent's thinking time to take out pieces!"

"Is there really a chess rule like that?"

"Of course!" Tom stated, pointing his finger in the air like he was recalling it from memory, then pointing at Tord, "Nah, I just made it up to get you. And it worked! Because you're such a nooooob at chess. Yup that's you."

"Shut up!" Tord shouted, pushing Tom by the shoulders.

"Nooooooob! You are a...nooooob!" Tom retaliated by poking Tord's face.

"If you won't stop, then I guess I'm leaving." Tord sighed, beginning to pack up the board.

"Wait!"

"What? What is it?" Tord asked with a funny accent, enunciating each word.

Without saying another word, Tom leaned forward and hugged Tord tightly.

Tord immediately felt his face heat up as Tom squeezed the life out of him. He unconsciously took a deep breath, catching a whiff of wet dog and a slight tinge of alcohol.

"Uh- I'll uh...see you later Tom." Tord breathed as he snapped the case shut and hastily made his way towards the door. He could feel Tom's pits for eyes burning a hole in his back, and made an effort to not turn around.

He stopped right outside the closed cell door, and stayed perfectly still, trying to process what the hell just happened. Tom hugged him. Made unauthorized contact with a staff member. Normally, this would result in some sort of punishment for the SCP, but in this case...Tord didn't quite mind. Or he did. Even Tord himself didn't quite know.

...

Tom knew he was awake, but decided against it. He held his eyes shut and tried his hardest to stay still, barely noticing he was sitting upright. He had learned to sleep on uncomfortable surfaces very quickly once he'd arrived at that place so long ago. Finally, a scraping noise jolted him out of his half-slumber. As his eyes snapped open, he suddenly noticed everything had a slight green tint to it. And it looked sort of...pixelated? But it all looked so clear at the same time.

Tom soon figured out what the scraping noise had come from. And by soon I mean immediately. A metal door had opened and closed and the patter of shoes suggested that someone walked through. He tried to standing up, but found out rather quickly that his hands were tightly cuffed to the table. So tightly, in fact, the he could barely move his fingers due to lack of circulation. Tom struggled to slip his out of the restraints, when a familiar laugh reverberated in the small room.

"Tord?" Tom called out, " Tord is that you?"

No reply.

"Tord please! I've been stuck here and someone put this thing on me and waaaAAAAAAIIIIIIT! SHITHEAD? SCUSE ME?!"

Muffled laughter.

"TORD! What the hell! What is this?! What were you thinking? What's going on? Who was that woman? What did I do wrong?= What is on my face?"

A spiky haired silhouette emerged from the shadows of the small room.

"5043, you must slow down if you want any of your questions answered." Tord stated, his face dark and rigid.

"5043? What does that-oh. Oh. Tord, what has gotten into you?" Tom asked, his face melting into one of sincerity and confusion.

"All of that was an farce. A little acting thing I did to gain your trust, and allow me to get closer to achieve my goals. Is that enough of an answer for you?"

Tom's body went rigid and his heart sank to his shitty shoes. His face heated up at rapid speeds and fresh tears began to spring up in his eyes.

"W-what makes you think I'll trust you now, huh? Why would you even tell me this?" Tom asked, his voice cracking and his pixelated eyes pleading.

"Simply because you asked, and it won't matter anymore."

"'It won't matter anymore' ? Tord what do you mean?" Tom squeaked, shrinking in his seat.

"Because you'll never have your own mind back!" Tord nearly shouted at the poor man. 'So you know how I feel..' a small part of Tord, the real Tord, thought. "Observe." He pulled out the small remote out of his pocket. The same small remote that went with the visor, and could control the wearer's every move.

Tom was fucked.

Tord pressed a button and Tom went limp in his seat. His finger found the small hatch and flicked it open, revealing a small button. Seconds flew by as he pressed the button and Tom jerked to life, green digital eyes turned red. Tord grabbed the game-controller esque joystick and slammed it up, causing Tom to bolt up in his seat. He grinned evilly and made Tom look left and right. It worked, albeit not very smoothly. But it worked. Tom's muscles were rigid and stiff, despite not having been barely used for the past few weeks. He was going to be the perfect killing machine once Tord had the kinks worked out.

Tord decided to give Tom once last taste of free will and thought, as a treat for giving Tord the sense of power that was coursing through his veins. He flicked the small switch again, Tom's head lolling to the side before snapping up again. His face was painted with fear and confusion.

"What. In the fresh fuck. Was that?" Tom cried.

"Just one of the many new features on that little thing in your head!" Tord exclaimed with false joy. "Take a look at this!" He pressed a button with a small flame decal on it and Tom's visor beeped.

"What was that?" Tom whimpered quietly.

"Oh, just a little heat vision."

"Heat..vision?" he trailed off.

There was a quick awkward silence while Tom looked around the room, testing his new ability. Inevitably, his eyes trailed to Tord.

"Hehe, you look warm. Especially down ther-" Tord cut him off by angrily flicking the switch for mind-control on and off. Tom jerked up in his seat and his eyes flickered back and forth between red and green. His head lulled against his chest for a second before popping back up to stare at Tord with a gasp.

"Please, don't do that again, I'm begging you," he pleaded, "Tord plea-"

"DO NOT CALL ME TORD! I AM DR.L TO YOU AND THAT IS ALL YOU WILL KNOW!" Tord snapped.

"Tord, plea-" Tom was cut off by violent spasms as Tord flicked the button on his remote, snapping Tom into mind-control mode. Fury roared in Tord's ears, and without thinking he pressed the deep purple button on the top of the remote. Tom shuddered in his seat for a second, the signal shooting through his body. Mist began to leak from beneath the visor, and his fingertips hardened and became sharp and black. The darkness spread only halfway up his arms, the thickening of his forearms busting the restraints open with a pop. His teeth grew sharp and his hair flattened as he snarled.

Tord slammed the joystick upwards and Tom shot out of his seat. He firmly clasped one arm around Tom's shoulder to steer him in the direction of the door. Tord pulled the walkie-talkie from is pocket and sent the request for the door to be opened. The request was soon granted as the door slide open with a hiss.

Tord, being the taller of the two and the one in charge, took the lead in dragging Tom to the Site Director's office. He was flanked by two MTF guards just in case something malfunctioned.

They eventually arrived at the office, but not after punching in multiple codes and scanning a hand print to get there. I mean, it was the Site Director, if she died everyone was fucked. Tord rapped on the cool metal door, his grip on Tom unknowingly tightening.

"Come in!" a voice calls from inside the room. Tord opens the door and pushes Tom through, the two guards following close behind.

"Here he is," Tord says, pushing Tom in front of him, hands on his shoulders.

"Oh wow. You've really outdone yourself, Larkson. This one here will give us a major advantage over the competition." she complimented Tord on his work, standing up and inspecting Tom. Tord shoved his hand in his pocket, a reflex leftover from the past. His hand grazed the boxy shape of the controller, and a rogue thought popped into his head.

'I have a murdering machine at my will. All I have to do is press a button. I know he won't attack whoever holds the remote. I can-'

His thought was cutoff by a question from the Site Director.

"Do you have the remote? I want to see this thing in action. Ah- you," she said, pointing to one of the MTF guards. "Go get a D-Class set up in a testing room. Quick."

The guard in question fled the room in a hurry, off to complete his task. That left only two targets in the room. Tord pulled the remote form his pocket slowly, using the Site Directors fascination with Tom as a cover.

Five seconds. Five more seconds and...

Adrenaline began pumping in Tord, just the mere thought of being promoted- or no, taking the spot of Site Director was enough to get him going.

'Now.'

With one swift movement, Tord slammed the button, and Tom's clawed arm swiped up. The Site Director screamed and lunged for the desk, making a futile attempt to escape. Tom advanced upon her and it was over in seconds. She fell to the floor, limp and dead. A shot rang through the room and Tord turned seeing MTF guard, who had made a shot after him. He missed, and Tord sent Tom after the guard. His screams quickly died down as Tom ripped through the armor and got his prey. Tord kicked the gun under the desk, following suite and taking a seat in the cushy chair. Opening a small compartment in the back of the remote, he pulled a USB.

'Time to take my place.'


	26. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> forgot to put this out...ooops.  
> but uh. the next chapter is half done and i have no idea if it will get finished. so....ya. :/  
> at least this chapter ends alright-ish

What's the weather like outside now?"

"It's winter now. It was snowing this morning, I think it stopped a little while ago though."

A pause.

"Can I see it?"

A sharp inhale, already answering the question.

"Someday, I'm sure you will see it again. All I can do is hope I can be there."

"Thank you."

...

The plan was to plug in the USB, which had a pre-programmed file on it which would let Tom move without the remote.

Tord opened the file and dragged it into his custom program, all the parts popping into their respective spots. The animation was jerky and slow, a surprise for the Site Directors computer. The piece of machinery before Tord had the power to take hundreds of lives in an instant. The program finally connected with a ding, and the play button popped up in the corner. He hovered over the mouse, trying to think about what he was about to do, but something was stopping him. He pressed the button and the program began running- for about five seconds.

The program crashed.

Tord was greeted by a blue screen and a harsh beeping emitting from the computer. A dull thump sounded from across the room as Tom collapsed, followed by a mechanical whoosh as all the secured doors leading to the room opened simultaneously. Tord bolted out of his seat to heave Tom upwards, only for Tom to begin spasming wildly. Tord dropped him in a mild panic, a flicker of worry running undetected through his head. A green line formed on Tom's visor, splitting and morphing into two 'eyes', indicating he was back online.

Tord flinched as a siren began to ring through the entire facility, screaming and crashing and roaring was able to be heard echoing through the halls. Tord would've immediately forgotten that the computer crashed, his only then problem being Tom going down. Now he had to deal with the rest of that mess. Tord hopped over to the intercom, and without even thinking of the widespread panic he was about to cause, stated that the Site Director was dead and he was taking over.

Sirens wailed in the background, alerting many staff members that a full containment breach was in progress. However, what Tord did not know was that when the Site Director's computer crashed, everything went offline. Which, in turn resulted in all doors unlocking and opening. Which gave everything access to get out, as in SCPs, D-Class, and everything in between.

Grabbing Tom roughly by the arm, Tord stepped carefully over the leaking corpses and out the door. He went down all the precautionary halls and doorways, and finally made it to the main halls. Multiple staff members sprinted past him as the pack of SCP-939 gave chase, paying almost no mind to Tord and his companion. The pair arrived at the epicenter of the fighting, the lunchroom. It was a fairly large room, quite possibly the largest at the site. Tables had been flipped as a means of protection, but it had little to no success. Blood was spattered across the walls, many corpses slumped up on various surfaces. Multiple D-Class were fighting for their lives against escaped SCPs, and it was a ruthless battle. Tord scooted along the wall, Tom following suite. He crossed the room and perched himself atop a fallen vending machine. Tord dug in his pocket and pulled out the controller for Tom's visor, sending him out instantly.

Tord targeted SCPs, hoping to save as many people as he could, but not necessarily for the good of their lives. His plan was to save their lives, gain their trust, and to make them not question how the Site Director died, or why he of all people took control.

Tom's bloodied figure could be seen halfway across the room, his hands morphed into that of of the monsters claws, slashing out left and right. Tord felt the adrenaline and excitement rushing through him.

It was empowering.

Tord laughed maniacally, feeling like he was in the most control, he had the power to give life or to take it. Watching from his perch as Tom locked his sights on a familiar face.

Dr. M.

A million forbidden questions bolted through Tord's mind, the amount being purely enough to breach the emotional barrier for a few seconds.

Tom instantly was after her, some instinct causing him to disobey the controls and Tord's objective, going after her precisely. Tord wanted him to stop, needed him to stop that, Eva wasn't supposed to die! She was chased into the farthest corner of the lunchroom, and Tord watched, frozen in place, as Tom lifted her by the collar of her coat, his blood-stained claws piercing her shirt effortlessly.

Suddenly, a man with a bright green sweatshirt tackled the pair in the near distance, bringing down Tom and Dr. M

"No!" Tord cried out as another body slammed into his own, knocking the remote out of his hands and across the floor. His ears rung as his head smacked into the concrete floor. He heard the familiar voice of Matt, one of the two D-class that had gone missing a couple months back.

"Edd! I've got him!" he shouted, the pressure on Tord's back increasing. Obviously, anyone was stronger than Tord at this point, as he'd been forgetting to eat food or drink anything other than coffee.

It's pretty hard having zero emotions.

"Good! I'm gonna go free Tom!" Edd, the second absent D-Class, called back.

"NO! You can't do that! The visor is attached to his brain! You're gonna kill him! The Red Army needs him! He's an asset!" Tord cried to no avail. Matt shoved his face into the cold concrete floor, and he was forced to watch as Edd restrained Tom.

Tom was preoccupied fighting Edd back, and trying to re-grab Eva as she scrambled away. Tom should've been much stronger than Edd, but he had been barley moving for weeks on end while he was hospitalized.

Edd gripped the visor tightly, Tom clawing viciously at him the whole time. Edd planted his feet on Tom's chest, and with all his might pulled up.

Tom's body went with it, and a loud crack sounded as the visor detached from Tom's face.

"NO!" Tord screamed, Matt finally letting him go. Edd tossed the visor away, letting Tord dive wildly after it. He snatched it from the floor, attempting in vain to shove the wires back within the metal box.

He had to fix it. Otherwise he'd be a failure to the Red Army and The Foundation and the 05 council would find out and they would terminate him and-

Sudden, jolting pain coursed through Tord as the wires connected around his hand. He fell to the ground, convulsing violently, his teeth clenched and tears beginning to stream from his eyes. He couldn't scream or cry out for help, he was go to die there, on the blood spattered floor, surrounded by hundreds of other stolen lives, just another number in a body count-

The pain slowed and finally came to stop, and Tord could feel gentle hands scooping him up from the hard floor. His ears were ringing loudly and someone was shouting something, and Tom, oh god Tom what did I do?

Tord looked over from where his head was dangling and got a glimpse of red through his blurry vision. The soft face shape staring back at him was distinguished by two squinting black holes, and oh god there was so much blood. Tord was so tired, his muscles were jerking wildly, and whoever was carrying him was so strong, how were they that strong? He could still hear screaming, and shouting, and then there was a close by thunking sound. He took a deep breath of fresh air, something he hadn't had in months. The muffled sound of a car door rang in his ears and a soft material appeared underneath him. The second his head hit the cushion the world started to fade to black.

The last thing he saw was Tom being laid next to him, eyes closed and scratched up, looking the most at peace as he'd been in a long time.


	27. Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sdxtfcgvhbkjnlik onE DAY I WILL FINISH THIS STORY AND IT WONT BE GREAT BUT IT WONT BE AWFUL I SWEAR-  
> also if you go waaaay back the chapter 3 youll remember i gave matt healing powers so theyd have a reason to be in foundation so dont uhhhh dont come for me

What Edd hadn't expected was for Dr. L, the seemingly harmless scientist who spent too much time around Tom, to be a partially evil scientist. What he also didn't expect was to rescue him and Tom from The Foundation. Edd wasn't even aware the Tord even needed rescuing. Yet, there he was, slumped in the backseat of Edd and Matt's brand new car with Tom, looking frazzled beyond compare.

"Those two are going to totally fu*k up the return process with this stupid car if they get blood on those seats," Edd huffed.

"I'm just glad we can play Connect 4 with Tom again!" Matt cheered.

Edd smiled and nodded, turning back to the window.

It was gonna be a long drive.

...

(First, allow me to tell you what the hell went down after Chapter 16: Adventure.)

...

Edd and Matt were still stuck wandering the halls, being already more lost than when they started. You can't really blame them, can you? All the white halls seem the same, stretching on forever and ever. It was a pure accident that they stumbled upon that closet filled with lab coats, fresh for the taking. Also, most certainly, a pure accident that they somehow lost their bright orange jumpers. But since they so conveniently had a full closet of lab coats, they "borrowed" some for the time being. After being cleverly disguised, the pair simply walked out two doors with a bright EXIT sign overhead and "borrowed" a truck from the place.

Unfortunately, they were a long way away from their home. And even if they weren't, Edd was sure that the house would've been seized by now. The pair arrived in an unfamiliar city, and stayed at the local library for a few days. It was enough time for Edd to slap together a resume, and snag a job at an art supply store. With Edd's help, and many, many google searches on what the correct pronunciation of "resume" was, Matt had one together as well. Living in the massive library in secret, the pair racked up enough money in two months to rent a single bedroom apartment. One day, after spotting a guitar with a checkered print in a store window, Matt remembered Tom, their close friend at The Foundation. He hurried home to Edd, begging him nonstop to go on a rescue mission. Edd agreed, for obvious reasons being that guilt was still weighing heavy on his shoulders. Edd took out a small loan in his name, and rented a car.

Their next problem was how to get back.

...

"Matt, we've been driving for nearly days now, I don't think we're gonna-" Edd started.

"Edd, the drive took days the first time! We can't just give up and leave Tim!"

"Matt, his name is Tom, remember?" Edd said, taking his eyes off the empty road to glance at Matt.

"Oh yeah. It's been such a long time, y'know?"

"Matt it's been two months."

"Oh."

There was a good minute of silence before Matt turned around and began to dig in the bag of snacks the pair picked up from the last gas station.

"Matt! Don't eat all the snacks or else we won't have any!"

"What about Tom?"

Edd sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"Matt...I don't think we're going to be able to.. even get there. And even if we do.. how will we get him?"

"Then where are we going right now?" Matt asked innocently, returning to his seat with a bag of candies in hand.

"I honestly don't know Matt, I really don't-"

"EDD! LOOK! THERE IT IS!" Matt cried, pushing himself up against the window and pointing wildly.

"WHAT?! WHERE?"

After a few minutes of wild pointing, screaming, and disbelief, Edd pulled into the back parking lot of The Foundation.

And, well, you should know the rest.

...

The drum of rain pounded against the window, becoming a background noise for his already fried head. Tord blinked open a tired and heavy eye to see the silhouette of someone moving in front of him. Something soft brushed against his hand and a flicker of pain shot up his arm. Making a feeble attempt to get away, he backed up into the corner of the car seat he was propped up in. It was almost completely dark, save for an overly bright light source in front of him, and he could hear the gentle breathing of Tom beside him.

"C'mon Tord, I have to fix your hand," a voice murmured nearby. Tord groaned and shifted to display his hand. All he wanted was to be not tired and to stop feeling like pure static in a jar. Someone's hands wrapped his burnt one, and a soft feeling spread through it, making it feel almost numb. The person holding his hand let go, and Tord retracted it back to the rest of him. Something sweet smelling was waved under his nose. He opened his functioning eye with a squint, peering down at the item before him. Some off-brand fruity candy, nothing crazy, but Tord immediately opened his eyes and snatched the candy from the person holding it out to him. He felt like he hadn't eaten in days, maybe weeks, and hurriedly chewed and swallowed the candy until he was left with an empty wrapper.

Peering up at the person in front of him, Tord's eye widened with terror as something in his brain made the connection between who was in front of him and who got him to where he was at that moment. The ginger-haired man just stared back at him with a hint of confusion. He backed away, or more shrunk away, as they were in a tight space.

"Is Tom awake?" a voice called from the front. Tord recognized it as Edd.

"Tord is. I gave him some of those Twizzle thingies." Matt replied, picking up the bag once more to inspect it.

"Oh great." Edd groaned. "See if you can wake Tom up. 'M worried about him.."

Tord closed his eye again, trying to soak up the sleep he was getting. The burst of flavor from the candy was fading quickly, and there seemed to be no threat. At least, no immediate threat. As he felt himself drift off, someone nudged his shoulder. Peeling his working eye open, he saw a very angry person staring him down.

Edd.

"You wanna explain yourself?"

"Hm?" Tord replied, rubbing the sleep out of his eye.

"Why were you...controlling Tom and how and more importantly why?"

"What are you going on about? The last thing I remember is just...uh.."

Sh*t. He didn't really remember as much as he thought he did, huh?

"Are you being serious right now?"

"Edd, right? I reeeally don't know what you're talking...about..." Tord's mind began to flood with memories of what he did. Tom coming to him, leaving him in the office, Roskam and his friends, the Site Director, the visor, Tom, Tom, Tom he made Tom kill them.

"Well? Anything to say for yourself?"

"I-I-" he choked on the words as if they were stuck in his throat. "I'm sorry!"

"Sorry? Did you say you're SORRY?" Edd shouted, rising above Tord, "You're 'sorry' for nearly killing Tom, and letting all those other people die? That's it?"

"I didn't-that wasn't me! I swear! The-the Site Director, she did something and, and I wasn't...there. I couldn't make choices, it was someone-something else. I wasn't in charge."

Edd fell silent for a second, processing Tord's words.

"What do you mean...weren't in charge?" he said, voice low and calm, towering over the scrunched up Tord.

"All I wanted to do was protect Tom. I never meant for any of this to happen." Tord whimpered.

"No no, what did the Site Director do to you?" Edd asked, dropping down to Tord's level and putting his hands on the other man's shoulders.

"I..don't know." The air in the car was cold and stuffy at the same time, making Tord feel like he was choking. Edd looked at him, then over to the still sleeping Tom. Matt looked back from the front seat as Edd vaulted himself over the center console and into the front seat.

"Edd! Don't do that, you could hurt yourself! Or make me crash the car but I don't wanna think about that."

"Don't worry about it Matt. Where's the next gas station? I would like to change Tom's bandages again.." Edd trailed off.

"Really Edd, I told you, I was able to stop the bleeding. He will be fine." Matt said, taking momentary glances at Edd. Tord huddled in his spot, then realizing that he had no seatbelt on. The two in front kept chatting about random things, something about rent and upgrading, worries about food. Tord could barely process their conversation, and decided keeping up with them was too much work. He sunk back into the seat and closed his eye. The rain provided a comfortable hum of background noise, perfect for lulling Tord into a light sleep. He was still semi-aware of the voices emanating from the front seat, but wasn't there enough to take their words into account. Little flashes of dreams played in his head, some no longer than a few seconds, other feeling like hours long.

Soon enough, he was completely out, breathing evening out smoothly. In the front seat, Edd was growing restless. What did Tord even mean, 'not in charge'? If he wasn't controlling himself, then who was?

It doesn't even matter anymore, because whoever was doing it is long gone back at the Foundation, and Tord is right here, he thought. When exactly did Tord become the bad guy? How long had Tom been controlled? Based on Tord's reaction to Edd's accusations, he barely even knew that he'd been controlled.

There was so much mystery shrouding the man, Edd hardly even knew anything about him! He glanced back at Tord, who was already asleep where he sat.

What was he gonna do?


	28. Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oh ew this stories alive again. anywayz i unfortunately finished another chapter of this horrible 'fan fiction' and now you get to. observe. gl lmao

The sound of voices arguing was what woke him up. Strange it woke him up in the first place, since the argument was taking place through whisper-yelling. Shifting, he pulled his arm out from under his body, leaving his hand buzzing just as much as his head. Flexing his fingers over and over to work the blood back in to the digits gave him something to focus on. Once the pins and needles left his fingers, he propped himself up on his elbows. He appeared to be on a couch, with a thin but warm blanket draped carefully over his legs. To his right, the two people who were still bickering back and forth. After groggily rubbing his eyes, he noticed a third figure curled up in a bed behind the arguing pair.

He made an attempt to spit out a 'Hello?', but all that came out was a rough cough that felt like it was going to tear him in half. In an instant, the two were right next to him, rubbing circles into his back and talking in their too loud voices. His face twists into a grimace as he tries to shrink away from them, but they are unrelenting. He knows they want to help, he knows that he knows who they are, but his brain is pulled in a million different directions.

His voice was hoarse, but he managed to croak out a single "Stop," and they backed off. Nervous glances were shared between the two as he curled a hand delicately around his head.

"Tom?" a nervous voice said.

That's you, his overloaded brain supplied.

"Yeah...no shit." he groaned in response, running his fingers lightly over his face. A few scratches and nicks caught on his rough fingers, sending small flicks of pain into his skin. What the fuck happened to get him roughed up like this?

"How does your head feel?" one said, moving closer. He was wearing a green hoodie, and the other was wearing a dark gray t-shirt with some text that Tom couldn't quite make out.

"Ugh...fine, I guess." Tom retorts dryly, leaning back into the comfort of the couch he was sitting on. He in fact did not feel fine, as the throbbing that settled in the back of his head was a pretty good definition of not fine, but he didn't want to worry the people who he didn't quite recognize yet. Running nimble fingers through his hair, small flecks of dried blood caught in his nails, which he then promptly flicked away. When he looked up, the two were whispering back and forth, as if they were unsure of what to do.

Looking at them, then at his nails, then back at them, he asked a single question.

"Do you guys have a shower?"

...

Finishing off drying his hair with a towel, Tom looked up to the mirror. He really was worse for wear, small cuts and scrapes littered his face, leaving dull red scabs that still stung to the touch. The bags under his eyes were big enough to carry a whole damn shopping mall. The skin around his eyes was rough and scarred, but the lines of scarring were thin enough that he didn't think about it a whole lot. He glanced back to the still dripping shower and his eyes landed on the red stained floor. As soon as he started to lather soap into his hair, his hand came back red. Luckily, there was no open cut to be found, but the amount of blood and grime in his hair was...disconcerting to say the least.

Picking up the gray t-shirt and shorts that Edd had given him, he dressed quickly and opened the door. A savory smell wafted towards him, and Edd looked up at him from his spot by the stove.

"Hey Tom! I'm makin' eggs and bacon! Want some?" Tom thought about that last time he ate and came up blank.

"Sure!" he replied with a grin. Soon he was sat at the table, nibbling on his food. Munching idly, his eyes drifted around the room. Edd and Matt said it was their apartment, but it was more of a large bedroom with a bathroom and some kitchen appliances. The couch he woke up on was against the wall his back was facing, and it was accompanied by a thin coffee table and a small TV stand to the left. A bed was stuffed in the corner near the door, with a desk on the foot-board. His eyes lingered on the bed for a second before he noticed the sizable lump that shifted under the covers.

"Is Matt on the bed?" He asked through a mouthful of egg.

"No, Matt left for work while you were in the shower." Edd replied, finally sitting down with a plate piled high with bacon.

"Then-" he paused to swallow his mouthful, "Who's on the bed?"

Edd opened his mouth to reply, but snapped it shut when he realized what the answer was. "Oh uh- just a...friend of mine! He's in between jobs at the moment so I let him crash here!" he smiled as he shoveled more bacon into his mouth.

Tom squinted- something didn't quite sound right about Edd's statement, but he didn't know quite enough to dispute it.

"...O..kay then. Who is it then?" tom asked again, curious to know just who it was.

Edd shifted in his chair, visibly not wanting to answer. "He's just. A friend. Frommm... college. Yea I uh, I met him at a.. class!" he answered, using his fork to punctuate the end of the sentence. Hoping to avoid any more questions, he shoveled more bacon into his mouth. Tom looked less than impressed, very obviously seeing through the lie. He decided to just quit it for the time being, and went back to picking at the food.

He would find out soon enough.

...

Edd left not soon after finishing his hearty breakfast of bacon and cola, leaving Tom, and his mystery friend, alone in the apartment. Before he left, Tom was instructed to leave the person on the bed alone, as they were sick and needed some rest. This only added to Tom's curiosity. Who could this mystery friend-from-college-leave-him-alone-he's-sick be? Edd had sat him down on the couch and explained the TV remote, and left.

Tom watched about 20 minutes of TV restlessly before coming to the decision of just seeing who it was. He crept not-so-quietly, as the floors were very creaky, over to the bed. The person groaned and shuffled as he hovered over them, solidifying his choice.

He gently tapped the person's shoulder, hoping to elicit some sort of response. The person groaned ans rolled over, facing Tom now.

He squinted as he scanned the face. The right side of their had some sort of scarring, looking like dark red lightning stretching across their features. Nothing was connecting, up until Tom looked up. The hair. Two prominent spikes among scruffy dark brown hair.

Dr. Larkson.

Tord.


End file.
